Skirts

9 Responses

1. Hello Maria,
   I have been binge-reading your wonderful website for a few weeks now. The information you provide here is so encouraging! As soon as I can get the french curves I downloaded from “Grow Your Own Clothes” cut out nicely, I will be eagerly working through the exercises. This particular pattern-making walkthrough will be checked often for updates because the pattern I have in mind has a yoked-back 8-gore skirt. I really hope you are doing well!
   Lots of admiration, Savannah (heart)

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2. Hello Savannah

   Hello and thanks for leaving a comment.

   I have quite a bit of information on drafting skirts in the Elements menu; that is, covering the basic theory of how to draft A-line, flared, circle, dirndl (&etc) skirts, but I still haven’t written any instructions for a skirt pattern. (The difference between the Elements Pages & The Pattern Pages is the Elements is the basic theory, the Pattern walks you right through drafting the full pattern and covers adding (for example) the waistband or yoke, and/or adding pockets, etc).

   Reading your comment I’ve realised I still haven’t finished the writing up the gored skirts that are supposed to be in the Elements Menu (Sigh!).

   I haven’t managed to get any work done on my website or Youtube Channel for the last two months, but hope to get back to it soon. I will try to get the Gored Skirts in the Elements Menu done first, but it will be quite a while before I’ll be able to get to a Skirt Pattern. Unfortunately (for you) I will be concentrating on Pants (Patterns) next (I wear pants much more than skirts!)… Also, a heads-up, all future pattern instructions will probably be in a booklet format for which I’ll charge $5 or so for. (I have to start covering costs on my website or I can’t continue)…. I will still put up the Elements and other theory up for free, but have to start charging for something.

   Cheers
   Maria

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3. Thank you so much for all this info, it is a life changer!!

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4. Hi Lianne

   You left this comment in the Skirts Pattern section, and I haven’t done any skirt patterns (yet?!). But I do have the theory and instructions for about 15 skirts in the Elements Menu (A-lines, Circles, Pleats and Others). I did mean to add another 10 or so to that menu, but then got side tracked.

   When I started the website I had a lot more time to work on it than I do now. I’m not sure when I’ll get back to skirts or do a skirt pattern…

   But you’re more than welcome to the information that is here.

   Cheers
   Maria

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5. Hi Maria,

   I love your tutorials and are the best so far I have seen on bodice drafting. Your bodice tutorial is the only one that has resulted in a toile that fits perfectly. I am yet to get to your sleeve tutorial. I was wondering when you are going to do a skirt pattern tutorial to accommodate all the little things that are normally adjusted later like a tummy adjustment.

   Thanks
   Betty

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6. Hi Betty

   I have just responded to your comment on another page.

   I was unwell for quite a while in 2021 and I will be getting back to posting new content on YouTube soon (later this month). However, I already have a long list of content that I need/want to do. Unfortunately I just don’t know when I’ll get to skirts.

   I do realise that on this page I said that I would make skirt patterns, but everything just takes so much time. I am spending about 3 hours today just answering comments on my website and on YouTube.

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7. Thank you Maria. I fully understand. I was specifically wanting to know about skirt block drafting because I want to merge them with the bodice block to make long jackets and dresses. But I have explored your website and found block making instructions for dresses that come from the empire line and the torso block so I will use those.

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8. Hello Betty

   I wear mainly dresses – all year round. I don’t use my skirt block or a dress block to make these dresses. I will cover that in the videos I have planned: “Variations on a Silhouette.” Basically using your Bodice Block and adding flared skirts that fall from above the waist: Basic A-line, A-line with pleats, and (6)Panel skirts. Basically you draft them using three measurements: the measurement at the EL (where the skirt starts), the hip measurement (to start with) and the hem measurement.

   It doesn’t make any sense to me at all to use the skirt or dress block to draft the skirt for these dresses…

   I find that the same style Jacket works best and suits those dresses better – jackets with an Empire Line. Again, I don’t use a skirt block to draft these jackets. I will explain that in those videos.

   (Note: it will take quite a while for me to make these videos..)

   Here is an example of the Jacket (Empire Line) that suits and works best with my Empire Line dresses.

   And the kind of dresses I draft without using a skirt block.

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9. Further to the above… another 2 (the skirts may look the same at first glance, but they are different …)

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