Okay, skirt drafting! This is always fun and exciting for me.
Since we are looking at a flat, one-dimensional picture, it leaves a few questions. But, I think I finally figured it out.
Let's take a closer look at the skirt. Look closely at the waistline and you'll see darts. For such a full skirt, it's really quite fitted through the upper part of the hips.
When I initially looked at the skirt, I thought that it may have pleats on either side of center front.
I was able to pull up the picture below, and on closer inspection, the fullness radiates from the darts. So, no pleats. As for fullness, there are 2 big folds at the hem of the skirt which shows where the fullness radiates from. We can also see that the front of the skirt hangs very flat, but thanks to the fact that the skirt is made out of a plaid fabric, we can see that the lower portion of the side seam hangs on the bias.
(Please forgive my drawings. I didn't realize that they were as wonky as they are, but I think you'll still be able to understand what I did.)
Determine how full you would like the bottom of your skirt to be. I would suggest adding 3" to 5" to the hem of each panel. If you would like a fuller skirt, you can add more.
Since we want the skirt to be flat below the waist, draw an angled line out from the bottom of the dart to the hem. At the hem, the amount should be the 3" to 5". The side panel, which is the panel on the far left in the picture below, begin the angled line at the hip line and then radiate the angled line to the hem.
The grainline will remain straight in the middle of each panel.
Now for the pocket.
Once again, let's take a look at the skirt.
We see that the pocket sits away from the skirt. I can also see that the pocket is a patch pocket, so it is sewn on top of the skirt.
A closer view of the pocket.
Determine how deep you would like your pocket to be. The pocket on this skirt is quite deep, so more of a fashion statement than a usable pocket.
Next, determine about how wide you would like your pocket to be. It should be at least a few inches wider than your hand.
The bottom of the pocket will be your determined width.
From the bottom of the pocket, angle a line out about 2" on either side. Remember, you can always cut it down. Just pin it to the skirt and make adjustments.
And then next week, we will also draft out the skirt pictured below. I think this was the second runner up in the voting. I think I will be hemming mine ;)
Rhonda
Thanks Rhonda, I do want to try making this red skirt!
ReplyDeleteI did 3 different drafts before I finally settled on what I posted. Like I said, I initially thought it might have a pleat, but no. Than I thought it might b a slash up to the dart and then spread. But that would close up the dart. So I finally settled on this. I'm looking forward to giving it a try too.
DeleteThanks, Rhonda. This is a great way for me to work on my drafting skills! I took a class in 2007 & enjoyed it. I now need to find a piece of fabric to practice on. Thank you again. I really enjoy your blog with all your great ideas! Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy that I've been able to inspire you :) Have fun!
DeleteThank you so much for sharing your thought process and your drafting. I would certainly like to try this skirt. Thank you for all of your inspiration and sewing encouragement.
ReplyDeleteMarie
H'mm. I'm looking at a skirt pattern in my discard box very similar to this. Time to pull it out and take a better look. No sense in reinventing the wheel if tweaking a pattern will suffice. Looking forward to seeing your muslin or finished skirt. From what I can see, this is a back zip with no waistband but a waist facing, no?
ReplyDeleteTheresa in Tucson
No waistband, just a facing. The skirt did have a center back zipper, but, depending on the pocket, you might be able to get by with a side zipper.
DeleteI just realized that you mentioned a discard box. I admire that you can get rid of patterns. I have such an inventory of patterns, just for the very reason that you talked about, no reason to reinvent the wheel each and every time :)
Deletej'habite une petite ville au maroc et je suis avec un réel plaisir tes publications, merci beaucoup pour ta générosité, j'aime beaucoup tes photos et ton sourire chaleureux va droit au coeur, je comprends avec un petit effort l'anglais,mais il m'est très difficile de m'exprimer en anglais et je tiens absolument à te dire merci infiniment.
ReplyDeleteI wish my French was better so that I could respond in French. But I was able to translate your message and it was just so lovely. Merci beaucoup!
DeleteYou have a great eye! I thought those folds were from pleats, but can see that you are absolutely right! And I can see the bias detail now. I learned a lot from your post - - and will look forward to your muslin and skirt. One question - I love the pocket detailing and how they seem to stand out from the skirt?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteThe pocket is wider at the top than it is at the bottom. But it is sewn on so the the top portion of the pocket stands away from the body.
Wow! I like both. My favorite is the beige one. Love it.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait till your next post on this. I am very interested in this.😊
ReplyDeleteThese are both nice. I will truly be making the second skirt.
ReplyDeleteLove these skirts and can hardly wait to get home and try them. So easy, it looks. Who doesn't have a 2-dart skirt pattern in their stash????? Thanks for another great inspiration
ReplyDeleteWhat fantastic timing Rhonda. I just started going to a pattern drafting course this week (one night a week for the next 6 weeks) and I can now understand the pattern drafting drawings now (Yippee). I am going to make a toile next week of my basic skirt pattern next week and if that goes well I might just try this red skirt. Thank you so much.
ReplyDeleteHow exciting!
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