Skirt questions

[gypsylakat]

I'm looking for skirt patterns, great deal on fabric at the local hancock, and I have no idea how much fabric I'm going to need! I'll probably be making two skirts in cotton, and I'd like to gore and pleat them instead of just gathering them... I've made shorter skirts without a pattern/ just by looking at directions and a general idea, but I'm not sure on the longer fuller skirts because well; i've never done it! lol

[isabelladangelo]

Cut off a strip of fabric about 4" wide (5" if you want) from one of the 45"/54" ends of the fabric.  Pleat the rest of the fabric (rectangle, 4 to 5 yards long) to a couple of inches bigger than your waist size.  Sew the pleated part to the waistband (the 4" or 5" strip you cut off).  Cut the excess waistband fabric (if you have any) off.  Sew up the seam to 8" or so from the waistband. Cut any fabric off the bottom and hem it.  Add a hook and eye to the waistband and you have a perfectly period skirt.

Circle skirts require math but...

You'll need a little over 5 yards of 54" fabric.  (You can use 45" but it's easier with the wider fabric the first time you try this)

Lay your fabric out like it's a big card (basically unfold it length wise and just fold it like you would a big sheet. 2.5 yards long by 54" wide).  Take your waist measurement and divide it by pi (3.14).  Take that measurement (now the diameter) and divide it by 2.  This is going to be your guide to making the waistline curve (it's the radius of your waistline so I'm going to call it R).   
At the top center of fabric (depending on how much fabric you have, you might have to do four quarter circles rather than two half circles.  The difference is that fold the fabric differently). take a pin and mark it.  Think of the pin as your compass North position.
From that pin, take your measuring tape, and mark out the east, west, and south positions using R.  Now, go back and mark out (I use pins) as many other points as you need to make the "curve" for the waistline.
Before you cut that out, you need to make the curve for the skirt.  Measure from your waist to the floor.  Add an inch or two so you have enough for a hem.  Using North again, mark out the hemline of the skirt.  What I typically do is either take a string that is the correct length, attach it to North, and use that to help guide me where I need to put all the pins or I use the measuring tape as the guide and attach it to North.  Either way, just put down enough pins to get and idea for the curve at the bottom of the skirt.
Now, cut that out and use the scraps to make a waist band.  You'll have to cut a small opening near the waistline circle so you can get the skirt on (again, about 8") but after you sew that up and the hem, you have a nice full circle skirt.

[gypsylakat]

I also have a request... how much difference will it make if I just gored them as to if I gore them and cartridge pleat them.. or if I just cartridge pleat them?  Pictures? lol?

[isabelladangelo]

You can gore the skirts however that always involves a heck of a lot more cutting that is necessary.   
I've done the whole "lay out the fabric, cut trapezoids that are the same width and length, and then sew 'em all up" but it takes longer than just pleating the fabric and have done with it.

Although many people seem to live by cartridge pleating, I've only seen it in very late 16th c items and not even much really then.  However, I can safely say I've never seen a gored and cartridge pleated skirt.     One or the other should be fine.  I don't think the pleats would come out as nicely if you gored the skirt first...

[verymerryseamstress]

Gypsy, if you gore the skirts to fit your waistband excactly, you should need to do any pleating at all.  The gores, when sewn together, should fit neatly to the length of your waistband without pleats. 

I've used both methods, and while I adore the look of cartridge pleats, the hand sewing of the cartridge pleats takes much longer than machine sewing a gored skirt.  I can cartridge pleat a skirt by hand (sewing each pleat, knotting each pleat, both at the top and the bottom of the pleat) in two hours.  I can cut and machine sew a gored skirt in about a half hour. 

[Randal]

One of our members (Pascal) posted this link some time back. http://www.using-sewing-machines.com/Bernina830_petalskirt.html

[gypsylakat]

I've actually made that skirt before,
http://picasaweb.google.com/silverytyger/Skirt

I was just asking some random questions before I made my skirt...

And actually what I did with that pattern before was I folded a peice of newsprint the length I wanted and marked out one tab 3 inches long and then doubled it as far down the length as I wanted and made a point a bit further than that (No idea if that quite made sense)  and just cut out a bunch of peices of that... I did it more mathmatically than I just said...

I just am not sure how to cut the bottom to make a circle.. Do I just cut straight at the bottom...

I dunno just thought cartridge pleating would give me a little something different... and hadn't chosen between the two lol