I finally have some photos of the circle skirt I made from the lovely midweight black cotton twill.
I know the fabric is super basic, but that was kind of the point! I can pull this out when I need a basic skirt to go with a cute top! I so seldom sew basics, and I’m slowly converting to the idea of solids instead of prints.
For the top I paired it with the Harriet 1950s blouse pattern that’s also available in my shop.
I feel like this makes a perfect little fall outfit!
The belt ties in such a way that it can be that it can tie in a knot in the front, or be tied in the back. In the photo above I show it tied in front. I did notice you’ll have to pull it pretty tightly to get this knot in front! Worth checking in a mock up if that’s the tie method you’d like- you may need to lengthen the ties a smidge (since this is based off of a period original, I made no changes to the waistband tie length).
When tied in the front, the back view looks like this. It’s criss-crossed at the back.
A closer up view of the tied-in-front view.
When you do the tied-in-back view, the waistband is smooth like this. Mine actually has a center front seam because my fabric wasn’t wide enough for the waistband. The original was to cut on fold, so no center front seam on the waistband. Easy to adapt if you find yourself in a similar situation- just add 1/2″ seam allowance to center front and you’re good to go.
Here’s how it looks when tied in back with a bow. Cute!
The skirt fastens in such a way that it has a drop-front. This is similar to how many historicall garments were actually constructed! 18th century petticoats, mens pants, some Regency dresses, all had a “drop waist” construction, so I found that pretty fascinating! The front fastens with hooks and eyes that are offset from center front. Then you pull up the front skirt and tie it around your waist in whatever method you prefer.
Here’s a close up of the side of the skirt when you hold it up to close. You can see I have the front edge finished with a rayon binding, just like the original pattern suggested. The back skirt has a wide underlap. Originally they didn’t suggest any fasteners for this underlap, just tying it in place does it! That means if you want to wear something underneath, like an 18th century pocket, in theory you can just slip your hand through the opening and have that under there. It’s like sneaky “historybounding” and era jumping! Fun!
I do have a blog post up on constructing the placket and skirt opening, and you can find that here.
You can find the pattern for the “Merry Go Round” Circle Skirt on my website:
And also in my Etsy shop:
The Harriet blouse patterns are also in my shops. Simply search “Harriet” and it will pop up!
Alyssa
October 7, 2023 at 4:41 pm (7 months ago)I wonder if there is a way to incorporate a pocket directly into the construction without messing with the fall front in any way?