and i’m back to sewing! betcha thought i was gone for reals, huh? too bad!
who participated in the circle skirt sew-along? i had a little issue with time – aka, life got in the way – so i wasn’t able to finish in time for the first ’round of circle skirt party 2011. i was able to finish last night, though! and i’m wearing my new circle skirt today! and lucky me – i spilled coffee all over it this morning so it even smells good! /sarcasm.
this was a really easy pattern to draft & put together. i was able to smoosh mine out of one piece of fabric & eliminate any side seams (well, on the shell fabric – the lining was only 45″ wide, so there are seams in there!). although i was a tiny bit ambitious with my original length, and ended up cutting about 5″ off the finished piece. yikes! longer skirts & i just don’t mix, i’m afraid.
my shell fabric is a lovely wool tweed i bought at the flea market for $3. it actually has a herringbone pattern, which you can see on the swatch. it is lined with silky bemberg rayon – my favorite! i went with a pretty pink because, well, pink lining! the zipper is a faced slash zipper, hand-picked. i ran out of my original tweed fabric (or, rather, i had already done away with the scraps because that is how i roll), so it is faced with brown cotton… which i’m thinking was probably for the best, as the tweed is a slightly loose weave & tends to unravel. dropping in the lining was easy: i slashed a zipper opening & slipstitched it to the zipper. the top was basted to the top of the skirt shell, which is covered by the waistband. the lining is hemmed with a rolled hem and the shell has 2″ horsehair braid all around the edges – i used a little over 4 yards of braid! and i hand-stitched it all because i clearly have nothing better to do with my time.
lol ~twirl
lining! 😀
i really love the shape the horsehair braid gives the hem. it has a very nice subtle flair. i actually have a petticoat i made using sugardale’s tutorial (which is AMAZING, by the way. this is a good ‘un, people!), but i prefer the way the skirt looks with the braid. also, i made my petticoat with horsehair crinoline, so it has great body but EW ITCHY.
so there you have it! my first circle skirt!
LLADYBIRD 
That’s absolutely gorgeous – love the pink lining! I did it too – but I went for a long version which rather leaves me wondering where the heck to wear it!
Love this!!! I’m with you on the length of the circle skirts. I’m tempted to make one myself, but I’d definitely be keeping it short, like yours. LOVE the pink lining. And btw, you have the smallest waist. ever! Jealous of waist and skirt!
LOVE it! Such a great looking tweed! And I really like this length too!
tweed yay!!! it looks really beautiful. and nice shirt lady 🙂
It looks fab in the shorter length. Ooh it’s just so lovely and tweedy and twirly! x
I have colored my hair red for about 10 years and I just bought a box of golden brown. Looking at yours lets me know (even though I’m nervous) it will be ok. I’ve kind-of depended on the red to make me look unique and give me a bit of excitement. Honestly, looking at your skirt and your great color choices with the belt and lining is making me realize that now that I’m sewing, I can choose to be creative in other ways besides my hair color. Thanks for keeping up what you do!
oh, i totally know what you mean – i was red for a full year (hardly a drop in a the bucket compared to your 10!), and as much as i wanted to make the change, i was apprehensive because i like the idea of standing out and being “the redhead.” i’m happy with my new hair, though, because now i realize i can wear colors that looked harsh with the red – and red lipstick! i missed my red lipstick!
i bet your new hair will look fabulous! 🙂
This is adorable, I love it! I’m in the process of cutting out my very own circle skirt and I think you’ve convinced me to make it shorted…I love the length of yours! And your new hair is stunning by the way!
That skirt looks great, now I want to make one! I really like the length too, is there really a person who looks good in a retro mid-calf skirt? (Well certainly not me!)
I love your skirt! The hem with the horsehair looks just perfect to me, and I like your styling, as well.
I love your circle skirt and it has really motivated me to make one! Just so I get an idea… how long is yours and how much fabric did you use? (I know this also depends on your waist measurement, but also how wide your starting fabric was)
Thanks for the great inspiration… love it with the belt too, so classy!
thank you!
the finished length on my circle skirt is… ahhh… i think around 22″-23″. i’m short, though! it hits me right above the knee. i drafted it to be quite a bit longer, around 26″ or so, but i ended up cutting quite a bit off when i realized i couldn’t put a super deep hem on a circle skirt 😉 i was able to squish it out of 1 7/8 yards of 60″ fabric… for 26″ length and a 27″ waist.
hope that helps! 🙂
It’s so cute! I love the lining too!
Love it, thank you for sharing!
What is the darker strip of fabric on the underside of the outer skirt for? I just made one of these skirts out of a wool blend and the hem is showing-so I am guessing maybe that happened with yours and why you have that darker strip? Please lemme know, I am not sure what I should do 🙂
The dark stripe is 2″ wide horsehair braid, which is used to give the hem of the skirt some body and flare. My hem is invisible because I stitched it by hand invisibly, although I’m sure the addition of the horsehair braid helped 🙂
Thank you! I ended up zig-zag stitching the hem, it doesn’t look all that nice, but I made the skirt out of a red wool blend to wear with my RAD retro 1970s brown leather hiking boots with red laces. Its a daring choice for me, but sometimes you have to take fashion risks! Thanks, you are adorable!
Ummmm, that whole combination sounds amazing and adorable! Yes!!