SEWING HELP //currently failing//

By Re-l. 29/09/09, 02:31 am

Ok, so struggling on my costume at the moment.

Im trying to make an off centered circle skirt,
but dont know how.
DOES ANYONE KNOW?

Also, im trying to add a different coloured material to the bottem edge.
Yet again. I DONT KNOW HOW D;
HEEELP? PLX?

//not very good at explaining what i mean//

HERE IS PICTOR:
SEWING HELP //currently failing// Circle11

SEWING HELP //currently failing// Circle11

**Guest** Guest

You only need to make half of that pattern, and then put it on the fold(Purple Line is Fold)...

Like this:

Spoiler:

Measure 6m, then mark how much you want the short side to be, then mark the measurement of half your waist. Then the rest is the back/long side.

Then draw a half circle that is even and connects to the top and bottom points, and do the same for your waist...

There will be need to gather at the waist, but that is normal Very Happy

Also, what width do you want the red fabric? coz all you have to do is cut the same length as the hem of the skirt and the width you want and sew it to the skirt...

SS

By **JVCA**. 29/09/09, 03:21 am

It sorta sounds like you've got it just about sorted with your diagram there. How long is it meant to be at the shortest point, and how long is it meant to be at the longest point? And what's your waist/hip circumference (wherever the skirt is supposed to sit).

**Guest** Guest

teehee we say the same thing Very Happy

*edited while you posted*

SS

By **Duckeh**. 29/09/09, 03:27 am

Cut out a circle.
You can fold fabric twice then mark it out like this-
SEWING HELP //currently failing// Skirt

Then decide where you want your waist to be, mark it out. then mark out a circle for the waist, then cut it. Make sure you include the waist measurement when cutting out the length of your skirt

The easiest way, I think of getting red at the bottom it just cutting strips and attaching to hem of the circle skirt?

**Guest** Guest

I loves how we are all saying the same thing in different ways Very Happy

teehee

SS

By Re-l. 29/09/09, 03:39 am

hmmmmmmmmm.

Short bit at the front would be 2 meters?
and then 4 approximately at the back~

hip measurements:38 inches (96.5 cm)

Want the red bit to be about 15 inches (38cm) wide~

**Guest** Guest

4m at the back means 3 m dragging on the floor unless you're doing something serious in terms of ruffles!

Also, a 6m diameter means you're either going to have to find fabric 6m wide (I've never seen any and I don't know anyone who has) or sew bits together.

By Re-l. 29/09/09, 03:50 am

Im sewing panels, the idea is for it to drag at the back, like a train, but i want it to be in a circle for when i sit down (the costume isnt really designed to be for walking around in, as the character its for is basically imobile. The character im doing it hinoto from X :

SEWING HELP //currently failing// Hinoto

SEWING HELP //currently failing// Hinoto

Tarrot card version though (cant find ref pic)

But heres a pic of a good cosplay:

Spoiler:

I want it to be like this (but red) and without the opening at the front

By Static. 29/09/09, 03:52 am

Instead of just having the one seam, you're going to have to do this in panels.

Spoiler:

Unless, like mel says, you have a physics MASSIVE bit of fabric.

By Re-l. 29/09/09, 03:54 am

I was going to do it in triangleishy shaped pannels but that would take forever and im too lazy so i was going to sew lots of panels in a row, 6mX6m square and cut out a circle.

**Guest** Guest

You'll get seams going every which way! And the fabric wont stretch evenly.

By Re-l. 29/09/09, 04:05 am

I know that i'll be getting lines everywhereeeeeee.

But the fabric im using isnt stretchy anyway ?? 0.o

butbut, i thought i could sew pannels 6mX6m, then sew a bit at the top to put elastic or something through, and gather to the correct waist measurements and then just sew the two outside edges together? that means i could just sew a straight line of the red fabric onto the bottom of all the pannels before gathering it, saving taking ages to sew it onto the hemming if its a circle skirt.

YAH KNOW?

like this:

SEWING HELP //currently failing// Tunel10

SEWING HELP //currently failing// Tunel10

By **JVCA**. 29/09/09, 04:09 am

@SS: The main thing I was meaning was the measurements - the exact position of the centre circle for the waist will depend on what the measurements are.

U_ne_korn is right that you'd need to patch pieces together - the widest fabric is generally 1.5m. Regardless - for making your pattern, I'd make one out of paper like Sylvie says.

Tape together enough newspaper to get the size right, then fold it in half to get your centre line. On that centre line, from the edge of the page make a point 15" down, then from the edge of the page, make a point that's 2m down. From that point draw a point 12" down (12" is the diameter of your waist). From the page edge draw a point that is 6m down the centre line. Going backwards from that point (back towards the centre) draw a point 15" up.

That gets you your centre line for the shape of the skirt. From there it's a case of making the circles, by finding the halfway point between each set of points and getting the radius from that, and you'll most likely have to freehand the circles once you mark out where the quarter marks are.

...I'm gunna make a diagram coz i think my instructions are confusing. That's for a proper circle skirt at any rate.

What U_ne_korn means is that even non-stretch fabric stretches on the bias (the diagonal), so by cutting a circle out, you'll get it draping really weirdly. Also, gathers look very different to the way a circle skirt does - circle skirts have that 'loosely gathered look' at the bottom, where as gathered skirts have 'tightly gathered look' at the top, and are smooth at the bottom, which is sort of opposite the look you're going for.

Regardless of method, an elastic band at the top is a smart idea. Very Happy

**Guest** Guest

All fabric stretches, its just that not all fabric stretches like elastic does. It sags, it pulls, it stretches one direction more than another direction very reliably.

If you're thinking of doing what I THINK you're thinking of doing, you wont get a full circle skirt. What I think you're doing is getting 6 panels that a 1m by 6m and sewing the 6m sides to each other to create a 6m x 6m square and then sewing that into a tube 6m circumfrence and 6m long. And then turning it into a skirt by elasticating one end into a waist?

Thats not how full circle skirts work. Full circle skirts are essentially a circle of fabrci with a whole in the middle for your legs.

By **JVCA**. 29/09/09, 04:23 am

This is a scale diagram, so it gives you an accurate idea of the size comparisons between the different circles. :)

Spoiler:

The 30cm (12") diametre circle is the hole for your hips.

By **Rowan**. 29/09/09, 04:32 am

If you don\'t have the opening at the front, it\'s not a kimono, which is what the character wears, isn\'t it? And in the ref pic it\'s not a full circle skirt, it\'s a wide and long kimono spread out...

Of course a circle skirt would work, but with an opening in the front?

By Re-l. 29/09/09, 04:33 am

What if it was a rectangle rather than a square, 3meters long by however many meters long it would have to be to eventually go in a circle, and then gather the top? Would that work?

Would there be a way of doing the skirt part another way, without doing a circle skirt?

This is exactly what im looking to do, how it flares out and trails at the back, but when sitting down, its a circle~

http://www.cosplay.com/photo/1731866/

http://www.cosplay.com/photo/1660076/

Does have an opening at the front.
And looks more like a kimono <_<

By **JVCA**. 29/09/09, 04:41 am

~~Those images aren't working for me... n_n;~~ Ah, you fixed it.

The rectangle thing would work as a skirt, but I don't think it would make quite the shape you wanted when you sat down? Rather than spreading out, it would 'pumpkin' near the top of the skirt.

The alternative is to just make a smaller circle skirt - Hinoto kneels, so it doesn't need to be that long in the front to cover your legs. If it was 1m in the front and 2m in the back then I would imagine it would still be plenty, but much easier to make? Though it depends on how tall you are, I guess.

By Re-l. 29/09/09, 04:43 am

//I edited pics and replaced with links.

Hmm. I could make it smaller.
But. o.o it wouldnt be as amazing! D;

And im pretty short ;/

Edit:

I have no idea how the girl made her Hinoto costume, but it's amazing u.u
And i envy her. I did PM her and ask her to teach me her ways, but she never replied and even if she did, it wouldnt help because i dont speak sweedish D;<

By **JVCA**. 29/09/09, 04:46 am

Yeah, I saw JUST after I made the post, hahah. XD

Her outfit is definitely a kimono, but I would fake the skirt part - real kimono don't shape like that because they're rectangles, not circles, and the only way to have it sit in a circle shape like that is to make a circle skirt. You could easily hide the end of the top/top of the skirt underneath the obi.

Being short works to your advantage here - you can get more of an effect with less fabric, lol. The shorter = less amazing thing is a valid point - but would you want to wear it at a con? Doing it that long will make it unwearable for a con unless you have a procession carrying your skirts for you everywhere so people don't stand on them, and a procession is rather difficult in a crowd, lol.

And I have no idea how she did it either, but it really is amazing! D:

By Static. 29/09/09, 04:55 am

Okay, I'm utterly confused by this - do you seriously mean 2m long at the front? 2m is taller than I am, and I can tell you now, you will go insane trying to anything except sit and look pretty in that. Do you mean feet, by any chance?

By Re-l. 29/09/09, 04:55 am

Ahah. Circle skirt it is then. If i make it smaller, its still going to have some pannels having to be sewn together and having random lines all over the skirt, right? Im not planning to have an Obi, Infact ive already made a corselette instead~
Ive thought about the fact that the skirt would be trailing along the ground, ripping, getting stood on, etcetc, so I was going to hire some slaves to carry around for me~ or just scrunch it up into a fabric ball and carry it everywhere, regardless if people see my thunder thighs and frilly knickers.
The only REAL concern though, having it so long, is its for the compitition, is there rules against how space consuming costumes are allowed to be?

@static
i'd probably do it 1 meter ;D
I thought about that myself and realise id be tripping up over it, so probably a meter at the front and 4-5 at the back, perhaps shorter if compitition regulations require it o.0

**Guest** Guest

You could get a full circle skirt on a kimono, it would just need to be a panelled one like Static sketched out. A kimono is make out of rectangles, so you'd just alter each rectangle so that from the waist down it's a huge triangle. Like um.... this:

Spoiler:

You'd still need a physics-tonne of fabric though.

For serious, I recommend you get your hands on a barbie or something similar and make a scale model. If you cant make it work in 3D for Barbie, then you're going to have serious problems making it work IRL.

Also your idea of gathering three (or 6) m of fabric into a waist band - get 3m of string, and wrap it around your waist a few times. Now try getting it to gather evenly all the way around your waist - notice just HOW FREAKING MUCH it's gathered? Now imagine that you've got a skirt attached to that gather - it wont sit flat the way you want it to.

By **JVCA**. 29/09/09, 06:53 am

Or failing that, sticking triangles in between each kimono piece is possible as well - I have a skirt I bought from glassons which is done like that. (rectangular panels with triangles in between)

I agree with u_ne_korn - figure out how to do it on a barbie doll sounds like a good idea. C:

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