How to Design a Quarter Circle Skirt Pattern: Sewing Tutorial

Our post today shares how to design a Quarter Circle Skirt Pattern. This Sewing Tutorial shows how to use an online calculator or to just fold your fabric, measure and cut.

 

Did we tell you our family on the Little Farm by the River is expecting a baby?

Yep, we are super excited! She/He is coming at the end-ish of February. (They’re keeping the gender a surprise.)

Anyway, when we visited them last week, Mrs. Farmer asked me to sew her some maternity dresses. We sewed four, all using variations of the same pattern.

The skirts were all quarter circles of fabric, sewn to the raglan sleeve bodice in various ways.

So even though we used the exact same pattern for all 4 dresses, our slight variations created 4 dresses that not only look different because of the fabric, but also look like they could be different patterns.

But this tutorial is for designing your personal quarter circle pattern.

There are two ways we discovered for creating your pattern. One is the scientific way, like my DIL, using a calculator.

The other way, which is for the math challenged, like me, consists of using your basic blouse pattern to get your waist measurement and folding the fabric on the diagonal to cut the skirt. We didn’t actually make a pattern; we used a measuring tape right on the fabric.

 

Design a 1/4 Circle Skirt with a Calculator

1. Use the Omni Circle Skirt Calculator to help you draft a pattern.
2. Follow the steps on the illustrations:

 

 

Design a Quarter Circle Skirt (for the Math Challenged)

1. Measure the waist widths of your Bodice Front and Bodice Back patterns, without seam allowances and darts. Add these two numbers together, then divide by 4.
2. Add 5/8″ (or a seam allowance you use) to the number you got in Step 1.
3. Unfold your fabric on a wide table, or floor. Bring the selvedge edge of the fabric over to the cut edge, making a point like (A) in the illustrations above. You can use the selvedge to cut the cut edge straight. Then fold again, bringing the first fold over to the selvedge/cut edge.
4. Cut a piece of paper 2″ by the Step 2 measurement. Fold in half twice, then snip every 2″, almost to the edge. Place this on your folded fabric, and form into a quarter circle. Where it fits exactly, with equal measurements all around from the point (A), will be your waist cutting line.
5. Measure your skirt length the same way, from the waist cutting line, to the hem, as shown in Illustration 2 above.
6. You can make a pattern for this way of cutting, so you don’t have to measure every time.

 

 

 

NOTE: For either way of cutting:
When you have your skirt cut, grab the waist in little pleats.
Keeping the cut edge even, hold the skirt in the air and shake.
The hem edge will usually stretch unevenly.
Carefully lay it down on the table, and cut the hem edge straight.
This will save you a bunch of headache when you want to hem the skirt!

 

Cutting and Sewing Variations

1. If you have fabric with a stripe, cut it so the horizontal stripes will go across the dress front, and the vertical stripes will go down the left quarter of your dress front. Optional: Put buttons on this seam, as shown here.
2. Cut a striped fabric so the horizontal stripes go across the back, then have a center front seam where the stripes meet in a “v”.
3. For patterned or floral fabric, place the seam in the center back or on one side. Add details such as a tab with buttons at the neckline, buttons along a raglan sleeve seam, or with a sweater knit, make a mock turtleneck collar.

 

 

Tell us which way you make your circle skirts.
Do you make a pattern with the Omni calculator
or fold, measure and cut?
Or maybe you have another easy way you do them.
We’d love to hear from you.

And if you want to save this post for later,
here’s a pin for your sewing boards: