So to save a bit of money and to get precisely the sort of skirt I want, I decided to make my own hiking skirt. While hiking the PCT in Oregon this summer, my waist got smaller and smaller, making my clothes fit worse and worse as time went on. So I decided to design my skirt so that it could adapt to a shrinking physique. I decided to go with a wrap around skirt because you can adjust it as needed to get the right fit.
Before beginning, I had the barest of ideas - mainly that I would make the waist closure with velcro so that I can wrap the skirt as tight or as loose as I'd like. Most wrap around skirts use a tie closure, which would be less adaptable than I had in mind. I then went online and Googled how to make a wrap around skirt. The formula that I found was pretty easy and ideal for what I had in mind. The easiest way to make a skirt is to make a tube with some sort of waistband. The problem with this is that the profiles of the skirt will be straight sided, which is not very flattering and could inhibit movement. The formula I found makes for a slightly more fitted, A-line profile, which was much closer to what I had in mind.
Basically, the skirt is made from three trapezoidal panels that are sewn together and hemmed. The measurements below don't account for seam allowances, so remember to add for that. This is how you do it (measurements in inches):
1) Skirt top (waist) - measure your waist and multiply by 50%: 30(1.5) = 45
2) Skirt bottom - take the result of Step 1 and multiply times 30% : 45 (1.3) = 58.5
3) Length - whatever length you want just remember to account for seam allowances and hemming.
4) Make a newspaper pattern using the above measurements. The easiest way to make the pattern is to halve the waist and bottom measurements, fold a piece of newspaper in half and measure out from the fold. That way your only cutting the edges once and you will make a pattern that is exactly identical on all sides.
5) Pick fabric for the skirt. I wanted a lightweight synthetic for my skirt. I looked through the polyester section of the fabric store and found exactly what I was looking for but unfortunately (or not, I kinda like it) the fabric I had in mind was only available in camouflage colors. But camo is available in a wide variety of colors these days and I found a color and pattern I liked pretty well. I purchased one yard of 60" wide fabric and some 1.5" velcro for the closure, all of which cost about $6.50. I have a lot of thread at home, so I didn't need to add that to my expenses. There was a small problem with only buying one yard but I'll get to that. In the end, it turned out to be the perfect amount of fabric.
6) Begin cutting the fabric. Technically, if you do this right, you will want three full panels cut to the above pattern. I kinda screwed up by buying only one yard of fabric so I ended up cutting two full panels and two half panels - with the square of fabric I bought, that was the only way to get all of the pieces cut. There are two minor problems with the way I cut my pieces: 1) you have to sew one extra seam because of the two half panels and 2) the fabric pattern for the two half panels won't run in the same direction as the rest of the skirt. In the end, I don't mind the way it looks at all. If you use a solid, obviously this won't be a problem. You also won't have this problem if you buy a longer length of fabric - say 1.5 yards instead of the 1 yard I bought. BUT, I used the single yard thoroughly and there was very little wastage with enough fabric left over to add a couple of side pockets if I want.
7) Sew the panels together. You could just do a regular flat seam for this but I went all fancy and sewed a "flat felled seam," which I am not going to explain how to do but here's a video. Needless to say, it's the double seam you typically see on the sides of blue jeans. It's stronger than a normal seam and is ideal for outdoor wear. It's also a pain in the neck to do with a regular sewing machine because if you don't get your stitches exactly parallel, it looks like crap. Mine look OK - more like do-do than crap. :)
8) Hem the bottom and waist. Hoy! This took forever because the hems and waists of wrap around skirts are half again as wide as a regular skirt.
9) Add velcro to the waist for securing the skirt. I had to play around a bit with this to get the velcro positioned correctly. I put the "soft" side of the velcro on the inside of the skirt so that that the "grabby" side wouldn't rub against my skin. Now that I've finished the skirt, I would probably do it the other way around. I sewed on a really long length of velcro so the skirt would have the adaptability I was looking for. Currently, there is a 4" length of velcro that isn't covered up when I wrap the skirt around my waist. The "grabby" velcro sticks to everything including my hiking shirt, which will damage my shirt. If I put the "soft" side out, I won't have this problem. I also added a short length of velcro near the back of the skirt to secure the inside panel so it doesn't droop. More experimentation needed here, obviously.
10) Tada! One homemade, lightweight, adaptable hiking skirt:
Notice how the pattern of the front panel is vertical instead of horizontal like the rest of the skirt.
This is the result of cutting two half panels. I think it looks just fine. The other half panel is hidden.
I think it turned out OK. I'm going to make another one but longer. This one turned out a little too short for my tastes. It's OK standing up but it rides up really high when I sit down. The finished skirt weighs 7.5 oz. It took me about 4 hours to make. So for about $6.50 and 4 hours of my time, I have a perfectly useable hiking skirt.
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