Last fall I had a hankering to add a simple, plaid flannel circle skirt to my rotation. I had been inspired after seeing photos like the one above, with girls in their simple, plaid skirts and blouses. I knew it’d be a short and sweet make, with a garment that would easily integrate into my closet.
I went out and found my ideal flannel at the fabric depot S.R. Harris for less than $5/yd, and had plans to whip it up on a weekend. Naturally however, the fabric ended up in the “to-do” pile for nearly a year. I finally dove in after whining to my husband that I couldn’t decide what to make, and he told me to use the fabric I had been meaning to turn into a skirt forever.
To “draft” the skirt, I avoided the pesky math and used By Hand London’s Circle Skirt Calculator to give me a cutting layout and tell me what radius to use based on my waist measurements. I added 1.5 inches of ease to the waist measurement, and it fits wonderfully. I wanted the skirt to be on the longer side so it would transition well with stockings, so I maximized my length and cut it at 22.5 inches with a 5/8 in hem. Because I made this unlined, I finished all of my seams with my serger.
The By Hand London directions tell you to use a invisible zip in the side seam for a fastener. Naturally, I hadn’t prepared for this so I didn’t have the right zipper in my stash! I embraced the vintage inspiration however, and inserted a lapped zipper that was 5 inches long. I finished the top of that opening with a overlapping waistband and fastened it with a vintage button from my grandmother’s stash.
I really love this skirt! It’s exactly what I wanted to add to my overflowing collection of skirts, and came together quite quickly. I could certainly see myself making more circle skirts in the future, and highly recommend the circle skirt calculator to save yourself the headache.