Skirts

So here are some skirts I've made for my friend Brianne...

The Scrabble Skirt

All right… I’m more of a bag-making guy, but here’s how I make skirts (and I’m not saying this is the best way to do it):
First, the basic shape of the skirt: I like the truncated cone, myself. You start with this shape and then you fine-tune it, depending on how curvy you are.
Here’s how you get all the curves to line up—with this equation: x=θ/((z/y)-1), where θ, y and z are known lengths. Mmm, math. And here’s the little diagram (that blue part's your pattern) …

So, measure the waist (y), length (θ), and hemline (z) and crunch the numbers. Once you know x you can draw the pattern with a string and pencil. And I just measure z with a string, too. It’s not precise, but it’s good enough. You can use cosines if you want, but…yeah, I didn’t think so…

Now add a waistband (don't forget to factor this into the length...I always forget and make my skirts too long), put in a zipper, a drawstring, or whatever you want.
The Scrabble skirt has a zipper in the back with a little bow flourish to boot. When I'm wearing skirts, I prefer the zipper on the side, but this is what worked with the bow.

Making things cute: The Scrabble letters and blocks are appliquéd on, and the numbers are embroidered using a zigzag stitch. Yep. Making small 3’s is a pain in the ass, by the way. Fortunately Brianne’s name is only worth nine points. Ha.

The Scary Skirt

The How to Keep a Husband Skirt

The pattern of this skirt looks like a donut. That means it's super twirly. Like, ballerina twirly. It has an elastic waist. And that grosgrain ribbon took forever to sew on. Damn. I thought it'd never end.

Fabric detail