Fabulous Free Pattern Friday

Today, I'm sharing a rather different skirt pattern with you.  

The Structured Drape Skirt

It's very asymmetrical and looks quite complicated, but you will be surprised by how easy it is to draft. After all, Fabulous Free Pattern Fridays are all about easy shapes. This skirt is made out of a knit fabric.

To draft this skirt, you will need;
1. Your hip measurement
2. Your desired length
Begin by drawing a rectangle that is half of your hip measurement with at least a 1/2" added for ease, by the length that you would like for your skirt to be.

Determine the width of the elastic that you will use  for the waist. The indention at the waist will be twice the width of your elastic. Draw a line straight our from the bottom of the elastic indention that is 14" long. Connect this line to the bottom line of the rectangle.

Since this skirt is made out of a knit fabric, we can get rid of some of the fullness at the waist. Sew the side seam of the skirt as well as the angled seam. Try to skirt on and pinch it in on the side without the angle. The side seam will look similar to the line drawn in below. Cut away the excess fabric.

You can find a short tutorial I did on creating an elastic waistband here, http://rhondabuss.blogspot.com/2012/03/fabulous-free-pattern-friday_30.html Once the elastic has been sewn into the waistline, push the angled seam into the skirt and arrange the drapes. I did a small thread tack at the base of each drape to hold them in place. If I had made the skirt out of a fabric with more drape, this would not be necessary. Keep in mind that the more drape the fabric has, the more the seam will drape and not stand out as much as mine does.   

A skirt with very architectural details that is so very easy to make. Who would have guessed!! I will try to post a picture of me in the skirt later today, but if I can't, I will next week.