MEASUREMENTS REQUIRED
For this tutorial, you will need the following measurements:
This distance will depend on how long/short you would like to make your skirt block - I
made mine to finish just above my knee.
LET'S GET DRAFTING!
MARK THE CENTRE BACK
To start, draw a straight line down the left hand side of your pattern paper, the length of
your WAIST TO HEM measurement.
Label the ends as A and B.
This will become the CENTRE BACK seam in your skirt.
MARK THE WAISTLINE
You will need to add a small amount of ease to the pattern (which will allow you to
walk/sit/dance in your skirt). It is up to you how much ease you add - but as it is a block
it should be quite close fitting, I suggest adding about 5cm to the HIP measurement and
3cm to the WAIST measurement.
Take your HIP measurement and add ease to this measurement, then divide result by
two. As for all symmetrical patterns, you will be making half the skirt pattern (as the front
pattern will be cut on the fold, and a pair of backs will be cut, to create a full skirt).
Draw a line from A (perpendicular to the CENTRE BACK seam ie. AB) the length of the
measurement you found above. Label the end point as C.
This line (AC) will become the waistline of the skirt.
MARK THE HEMLINE
Move down to point B and draw a line, perpendicular to the CENTRE BACK, the same
length as the waistline. Label the endpoint as D.
This line (BD) will become the HEMLINE of the skirt.
MARK THE CENTRE FRONT
Join points C and D. This will be the Centre Front of the skirt.
MARK THE HIP LINE
Take your WAIST TO HIP measurement and mark a point this distance from A, down
the CENTRE BACK line. Mark point as E.
Draw a perpendicular line from E that intersects with the CENTRE FRONT (CD).
You can mark this line as the HIP LINE.
MARK THE SIDE SEAM
It is now time to mark the side seam.
Take your full HIP MEASUREMENT and divide by four (once agin because we will be
cutting on the fold). Add 1.5cm to the result. This extra 1.5cm will move the side seam
slightly beyond the halfway point - to allow room for your derriere in the back of the skirt.
Mark this measurement on your HIP LINE, measuring from point E.
Mark point as F.
Draw a perpendicular line from F, that extends up to the WAISTLINE (mark intersection
point as G) and down to the HEMLINE.
At this stage, your waistline is the same length as your hip line. This is not the case in
most women's bodies, so you will need to remove some width from the waistline. This
will be done by creating four darts (two in the front and two in the back) and curving the
hip line at the side seam.
To do this, take you WAIST measurement and subtract it from your HIP measurement.
With your result, subtract the width of your four darts (4 darts measuring 3cm each =
12cm). The result is how much you need to remove from the side seams.
Take the result and divide by two (as we are making half the pattern) and distribute
either side of point G, on the waistline (half the measurement on the front pattern and
half on the back). Mark points as H and I.
Join H to F with a smooth curve.
If you have quite a big difference between your waist and hip measurements and are
worried that the hip curve is too extreme, you may choose to increase the width of your
darts to compensate.
Repeat for the front by joining I to F with a smooth curve.
You will need to extend your side seams slightly beyond the WAISTLINE to
accommodate the curve of your hips. Extend lines from H and I by 1.5cm, at the same
angle as the curved hip line so that each becomes one continuous line.
WAISTLINE
Join the new point (extension from H) to A with a smooth curved line. You have now
created the back waistline of the skirt.
Repeat for front pattern. Join the new point (extension from I) to C with a smooth curved
line. This is now the front waistline.
DARTS
Now it is time to draw in the darts.
Mark the midpoints of both front and back waistlines. Label the midpoint of the back
waistline as J and front waistline as K.
From point J, mark a point 1.5cm towards the CENTRE BACK. From this new point,
mark another point 1.5cm towards the CENTRE BACK.
If you have decided to increase your dart width, then make sure you remember to add in
this width now. For example, if you plan to make the darts 3.5cm wide, then mark your
points 1.75cm apart. If your dart value goes beyond 4cm, I would suggest creating two
smaller darts instead - you will get a more flattering shape that way.
These points mark the centre of the back dart, and the dart arms 1.5cm either side (to
create a dart that is 3cm wide).
Draw a line that is 14cm long (this will be the length of your back dart) from the middle
point. The line should be perpendicular to the waistline.
Join the points either side to the endpoint of the line you just drew. You have now
created the two dart arms.
Move to your front waistline.
From point K, mark a point 1.5cm towards the CENTRE FRONT. From this new point,
mark another point 1.5cm towards the CENTRE FRONT. These points mark the centre
of your front dart, and the dart arms 1.5cm either side (to create a dart that is 3cm
wide).
Draw a line that is 13cm long (this will be the length of your front dart) from the middle
point. This line should be perpendicular to the waistline. This will be the centre line of
your front dart.
Join the points either side to the endpoint of the dart centre line. This will complete your
front dart.
By this point, it should really be starting to look like a skirt pattern!
FINISHING UP
Take a seperate piece of pattern paper and trace a copy of the front pattern. Remember
to include all markings (hip line, dart, centre front).
Leaving some space between the pattern pieces (you still haven't added seam
allowance), trace around the back pattern piece - once again, marking all important
points.
And now you have a front and back skirt pattern! Add grainlines (parallel to the centre
front and centre back) and label each piece.
