Planning the finished skirt:

Think about how you want your finished skirt to look. Do you want it knee length or longer? How full do you want it to be at the hemline? Think about some skirts you’ve made before and how long and/or full they were.

Feature	My Skirt	Think about this:
How many gores	_____	8 or more. Multiples of 4 work nicely and allow you to have a center back or side zipper, if desired.  I’ll use 12 in this example.
How much hem allowance	_____	Less if your hem is full.
How much seam allowance? (SA)	_____ SA	1/4″, 3/8″, 5/8″ (.25″, .375″, .625″), more? Your choice!
Hemline sweep?	_____	How full do you want the finished skirt (total)? A number evenly divisible by the number of gores is easiest.
Elastic or waistband?	_____	If elastic, what is the width of your elastic? ____If waistband, will you close with zipper or some other way? ______

Measuring your body and planning the pattern:

Ease is the amount of fabric above your body measurements that is needed to allow your garment to go around your body. As we plan the skirt, we will add ease to the body measurements. The larger you are, the more ease you will need.

Too much ease looks sloppy, so be careful not to add too much. Try wrapping a width of fabric around your body to see what amount of ease looks best. Again you might think about some skirts you have made in the past or measure some skirts that fit well. There is no ease added to the length measurements.

Suggested Ease for woven fabrics:
Waist 0.5″ to 1″
Abdomen 1″ or more if using pockets
Hip 2″ to 4″

Knit fabrics may need no ease at all since they stretch.

Measure	Inches	+ My Ease	= Total	/ #Gores	= Total	Half (/ 2)
Waist			H	/ 12		A
Abdomen				/ 12		E
Hip				/ 12		F
Hem Sweep				/ 12		G
Length from waist to abdomen	B
Length from waist to hip	C
Skirt length	D

Fill in the first column with your measurements and calculate the remainder of the chart. Double check your work. The Total and Half columns indicate measurements that will be used in drafting the pattern. The letters in some of the boxes will be referred to when we draw the pattern onto the paper.

Draw your pattern:

Cut a length of paper about ten inches longer than Measurement D and at least five inches wider than Measurement G.

Fold your paper in half vertically and mark the hem on the fold line about 5 inches above the bottom of the paper. Label this point D. From D, measure the length Measurement D along the fold line. Mark point X.

From point X, measure down Measurement B and mark point B.

Again from point X, measure down Measurement C and mark point C.

At point X, square a line using Measurement A and mark point A.

At point B, square a line using Measurement E and mark point E.

At point C, square a line using Measurement F and mark point F.

Square a line out from point D to the edge of the paper. Mark the line at measurement G.

Connect points A-E-F-G. Label the line “Side Seam”.

From point A, measure down Side Seam and mark a point at measurement D. Label point Y. Connect Y to X with a slightly curved line.

If using elastic waistband: From point F, draw a line straight up toward the top of paper. At point X, measure upward along fold line the width of the elastic x 2. Label point Z. Square a line outward to meet the line drawn upward from point F. Connect Z to F. This will be your new side seam, disregarding waist and abdomen measurements.

If using straight waistband: Calculate length of waistband: H + 1.5 + (2 x SA). Calculate Width of waistband: (Width x 2) + (2 x SA). Draw a pattern to these dimensions, if desired.

Along the Side Seam and top of pattern, mark a seam allowance the desired width.

Cut skirt gore pattern from folded paper so that when paper is unfolded you have a full pattern piece.

How do I know how much fabric I need?

This is a 12-gore skirt, so you must have enough fabric to cut the pattern piece 12 times. If you are adding a waistband, make sure you have a rectangle of fabric and interfacing for that. I like to cut three of my skirt pattern from paper and lay them on my gridded mat to estimate the amount of fabric I will need.

On 60-inch fabric, I can usually lay three of my skirt pieces side by side across the width of my fabric. That means I’ll need twice the length of my pattern for my skirt. So if my skirt pattern is 28 inches long, I’ll need at least 56 inches of fabric to make the skirt. (I’d buy 1/4 yard extra to allow for shrinkage or crooked cutting at the fabric store.) My waistband will probably fit at the edge of the fabric. Check yours to be sure.

On 54-inch fabric, I can usually lay three of my skirt pieces side by side across the width of my fabric if I turn one upside down.

Use your gridded mat or a piece of fabric to help you estimate your yardage.

Tags: 12 gore draft