Growing a Rowan Tree: I did dressmaking this weekend

How to make a skirt, from the no pattern, no zips, let's-just-see-what-happens school of dressmaking.

What do pirates wear anyway? I came across this link which you should all add to your procrastination to-do list. Most of my research comes from Johnny Depp and co., to be honest with you.
Ill-fitting, scruffy, miss-matched. Belts, sashes, shiny things. Weapons.

And what about pirate attire for women? Not much to go on, really. Pirate movies rarely even pass the Bechdel test.

So I regressed in to the bit of me that knows the rules and doesn't like to break them. I had a good rummage around in there and this is what I came up with:

1. It's a dance, so I have to be able to dance.
2. It's a ball, ergo formal. For me that means I have to wear a skirt, and it probably has to be fairly poofy and full length. You can blame my mother for that one. Not a rule for everyone, but something to work with.
3. I should attempt to pick a time period. c.1700. Empire, Colonialism. That sort of thing. Ergo we haven't invented polyester or screen printing yet.

Then I did a bit of prioritising. Ball first, pirate-themed second. I've been going around making sure people don't feel like they have to dress up and wind up getting scared, so I should really be able to remember that myself, right?. But then my head-voice says "but you're on committee, you're essentially one of the hosts of this bash, make a bloody effort kiddo" and then it adds, "and just think of all the cool things you could do?" and I'm hooked. Line and sinker.

A quite rake around the wardrobe landed a few candidates, but with one glaring omission. A skirt. So I made one.

This one.

See, it's a happy skirt.

And this is how.

First, put on your slippers. This step is crucial.

Next, clear away the tea and the leftover salad from the dining table. Also fairly crucial.

This is going to be a full circle skirt. Circle skirts are awesome, because you just cut out a doughnut and stick a waistband on.

Measure my waist to work out how big the inside of the doughnut needs to be.

I later decided to do without a zip and make an elasticated waist that gathers ever so slightly but will stretch to big enough that it can go off and on.

Get a grown up to help.

Measure the distance from my waist to the ground, which as it happens, is quite a long way.
Do maths

Get the internet to help.

This is polycotton sheeting. It's double width and really quite cheap. I'm starting out with a square 2.5m by 2.5m.

Fold your square in half and half again, to give a corner that represents "the middle".

Calculate the radius of your waist. 4 1/2 inches it turns out. That, if you average me out, is the distance from the edge of me to the middle of me. I find that oddly interesting. It's not a stat people often know about themselves. If I was wanting to put a zip in, this would have been the correct size to cut. I figured that out later.

Make a number of marks 4 1/2" away from the corner, and join them up in to a rounded line.

Work out how much fabric is left, decide how long you want your skirt to be (41"), and add to this number the previously calculated waist radius plus about an inch for hemming. Draw another much bigger quarter circle.

Get cutting. Nothing could go wrong.

Tada.

Be shocked by what your waist looks like as a rounded cross-section and measure it again just to be sure.

Realise that a hole the size of my waist measurement won't go on over my shoulders or over my bum. Measure a slightly wider part of me, work out the difference between that and the waist radius, and cut another doughnut out. This doughnut represents the difference between my waist and chest measurements!

Cut out a strip of fabric that's the same length as the (new) waist measurement for a waistband. Zig-zag it, fold it and press it down the middle.

Sew the two ends of the waistband together to make a single loop. Pin the waistband on to the skirt, right sides together. Adjust the size of the waistband once or twice to everything matches. Dressmaking by trial and error. If you wind up gathering the skirt on to the waistband ever so slightly so what.

Sew!

Well done. Stop for sushi. Only spill a little soy sauce on your new skirt

Soy sauce washes out, right?

The victorious L arrives home with the elastic for the waistband that you didn't have when you started out. Feel quite jammy that you've accidentally made the waistband exactly the right width.

Stop again for more food

Thread some really butch elastic through the waistband. Sew over it vertically a few times to stop the elastic bunching up and folding over.

Proudly display your new Squirrel Pocket. I didn't mention the pocket yet, it was a bit of an experiment. Squiggle the Tiny Squirrel seems to like it.