Since I’m so tall, there was no way I was going to find fabric wide enough for me to cut the whole circle at once (you shorter people – be grateful). Unless I want a circle mini skirt, but I don’t think anyone wants that.
I definitely underestimated how much fabric it would take when I started this project…(3.5 yards). So. Much. Fabric. I didn’t realize how big the circle would actually be, and while I was hemming it I’m sure our downstairs neighbors really enjoyed listening to my sewing machine go for like a half an hour.
So worth it, though. I LOVE this skirt! It’s so fun and makes me feel pretty whenever I wear it. All girls need a skirt they can twirl around in, no matter what age.
Just to paint a picture, my waist is 32 inches around, and I wanted my skirt about 30 inches long. Once I did the math, my skirt was going to be 70 inches in wide…and fabric is usually only 60 inches wide. That is why I ended up having to do two half circles.
If you have run into similar problems when creating your own circle skirt, follow the tutorial below to create one that is finally long enough!
I’ve labeled my different measurements with A, B, C, and D so it makes more sense.
A = (Length) * 2 + (C)
B = Length — Measurement from your natural waist to however long you want it to be.
C = (waist measurement) / 3.14 — This is the diameter of your waist
D = (waist measurement) / 3.14/2 — This is half the diameter of your waist. You will sew the two half circles together and it will equal your whole waist diameter.
The top diagram image is an example of how I cut my skirt out of the fabric to have the least amount of fabric leftover. With a waist measurement of 32″ and 30″ long skirt, I used 3.5 yards of fabric. You will want to adjust yours accordingly.
To mark all my measurements, I laid the fabric out on the ground and started at the top of my fabric. First, I started at one end and marked my length of A. Then I marked the mid point of length A, and centered my waist diameter measurement on it. From the center point I just measured 5.25″ around, marked with chalk every couple of inches, and connected the dots to make it circular. I did the same with the length, but I measured 30″ from the waist diameter all the way around and connected the dots to make it circular. Then I cut out my fabric.
I made the waistband 4-5″ tall, so when I folded it over it was a 2″ thick waistband, and made the length of the waistband a couple inches longer than my waist measurement. Cut the waistband on a diagonal (the bias) to give it some stretch.
To make the circle once you have your fabric cut out, pin the straight edges with right sides together. Sew or serge the straight edges of your fabric, leaving the top of one side open about 5 inches so that you can add a zipper.
Merrick’s Art and Cotton&Curls have great tutorials on how to finish your skirt once you have your circle made.
Let me know if you have any questions or comments. Tag your circle skirt makes with the tag @torinoellehall on Instagram so that I can see!
Adorable! Beautiful pictures too!
Thank you so much, Kelli!
Wow, nice skirt! 👍🏽 What fabric is that exactly???…some type of suiting fabric? I’d really appreciate your answer 😊
Hi Juss! I used a fabric from the suiting isle at JoAnn. I don’t remember what the fiber content was, but it’s sort of a silky, mid-weight, and it feels like polyester. I hope that helps! 🙂
Thanks a lot!! 😄👍
From my waist to my ankle is 40 inches so I’m with you in not being able to buy skirts and have them the right length. I also have trouble with premade things not making it over my hips (I’ve had 2 kids) so for the last 2 years I’ve been stuck in super stretchy things and they still don’t fit right. I love that you did a way to make this work Thank you so much. You have saved me from never being able to wear a skirt or dress again
That makes me SO happy Anna and it’s what I LOVE to hear!! I hope you can make a few skirts for yourself that you can feel good in! I plan on making another skirt this summer with an elastic waistband and I think that will be really comfortable too.
Thank you so much! I noticed you didn’t say anything about zipper allowance. How do you insert a zipper and still have skirt fit your waist if no extra zipper allowance is added? I’m not so clear on that. 🙁
You know what, I didn’t actually add a zipper allowance…Haha! I was so new at sewing when I posted this tutorial that I didn’t even think about that. You would probably want to add an extra inch so that you had room to do a 1/2″ seam allowance for the zipper. I hope that helps!
I know this is an older post so you may not still be replying but I’m at this exact point in my beginning sewing, being very tall (6ft) and wanting to make a circle skirt but not knowing how to do the fabric measurements. I was wondering if you ended up using 3.5 yds of 60 inch wide fabric or did you have to get 70 inch wide?
Hi Tai! I’m SO sorry, I have not been keeping up on comments. This blog post was a very long time ago, but I still have the skirt and it definitely takes around 3-4 yards if you do it a longer length like I did. My fabric was around 60 inches wide. I hope you were able to figure it out, and feel free to reach out if you have any other questions.