Round & Round in Circles We Go

I interrupted my scheduled sewing projects last week to do something I’ve wanted to do for some time: participate in the Project Run & Play Sew Along. However, I wasn’t able to finish my project in time to be included in the sew along/contest. :-(

But I did finish them eventually, so now I present you with…

I made my remix of the circle skirt tutorial to be ‘fully loaded’, which means this skirt has

• Pockets
• Full Lining
• Peeking Ruffle
• Modesty Shorts (does this make it a circle skort?)

And it’s a hit! The girls really like them, because they twirl! And because of the pockets. They LOVE pockets. The Wild One came screaming from the other end of the house when she discovered the pockets.

Want to make your own? Click below to see my changes to include the pockets, shorts and lining!

What You’ll Need:

• Circle Skirt Pattern – find the information on making your own on Dana’s site
• Fashion Fabric – about a yard, but depends on the size of skirt your making
• Lining Fabric – same amount as fashion fabric
• Ruffle Fabric
• Bias Trim (optional)
• Knit Fabric for Shorts
• A Favorite Leggings pattern or a well fitting pair of leggings you can trace
• Elastic for waist band

What I Did:

The first change I made was to cut my fashion fabric in half circles instead of a full circle to give me a side seam for including pockets. I just folded my fabric once instead of twice (as the tutorial instructs) and cut two per skirt.

I cut my pocket pieces by eyeballing it, I just drew a pocket looking shape on my lining fabric and cut, keeping one edge strait (the edge that will align with the skirt side seam). You’ll need four pocket pieces per skirt. Then I added a strip of the fashion fabric, 1.5” wide to the side of the pocket to prevent the lining fabric from peeking out.

I placed the pockets 2” from the waist of the skirt and stitch them on each side of the fashion fabric, both the front and back pieces.

(Are you dizzy yet? I got dizzy working with this fabric!!)

Then layer the skirt front and back with right sides together.

Stitch the side seams, beginning at the waist down to the top of the pocket. I was sewing with 1/4” SA, so I continued past the beginning of the pocket by 1/4” and stopped with my needle down.

Then pivot the fabric and continue sewing around the edge of the pocket.

Sew 1/4” (or what ever amount of SA you’re sewing with) back into the skirt piece, pivot again and continue the side seam down to the hem.

Repeat for the other side seam. Then switch to a long stitch length (I used 5.0mm) and baste the pocket closed along the side seam line (the portion of the side seam left open when pivoting to go around the pocket).

After basting the side seam closed, press the side seam open from the right side, pressing the pocket to one side. At this point, you are choosing which side of the skirt is going to be the front and which is the back. Press both pockets towards the same half circle or towards each other. Then remove the basting stiches to open the pockets.

I cut the lining pieces from the same pattern piece as the fashion fabric, but attached a ruffle at the hem line. I calculated the circumference of the skirt and multiplied it by 2 to get the length of the ruffle piece. I used bias tape to finish the hemline of the fashion fabric with a little color.

The modestly shorts were made from a basic leggings pattern that I cut off to be shorts. I also cut them without the allowance for an elastic casing at the waist since these were going to have the elastic waist band from the skirt.

I layered all three pieces together (the skirt, the lining and the shorts) and serged them together at the waistline. I followed Dana’s directions for the elastic application at the waist and called it done!

And then the twirling began! They both spent a while spinning and spinning in these, but only the Wild One was willing to take pictures!

The cardigan is made from my favorite t-shirt pattern, Jalie 2805, which I’ve modified for a quick and easy cardigan. I talked about my modifications here, and I plan to do a more detailed blog post about it soon.

I’ve got so much more in the queue right now, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to work on any other sew alongs over at PR&P this season, so I’m still a little sad this didn’t make it in last week, but I do love how they turned out. Just was I had pictured in my head when I picked up this fabric.  I love when the ideas in my head actually become reality. That’s not always and easy thing do achieve!