If you sew for a hobby or professionally, you may have already tried making a circle skirt. Making this type of skirt requires a lot of measurement and circle skirt math which you can do easily with the use of a circle skirt calculator. This is a very useful online tool since it serves as a full circle skirt calculator, a half circle skirt calculator, and a 3/4 circle skirt calculator too.
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How to use the circle skirt calculator?
This is a handy calculator which you can use for different purposes. After taking the required measurements, you can enter the values in the required fields and it performs the calculations for you. Here are the steps to follow for this circle skirt calculator:
- First, select the Type of skirt you plan to make from the drop-down menu.
- Then enter the value of the Waist and choose the unit of measurement from the drop-down menu.
- Finally, enter the value of the Skirt Length and choose the unit of measurement from the drop-down menu.
- After entering all of the required values, the calculator performs the circle skirt math for you to provide you with the values for the Waist Radius and the Fabric Length.
How much fabric do I need for a skirt?
A circle skirt is a flowing type of skirt which, when you spread it out flat, creates a circle shape hence the name. Sewing a circle skirt quite easy, especially after you’ve taken the measurements and cut out the fabric. After this, all you need to do is sew both ends together then ass the hem and the waistband.
The trickiest part of sewing a circle skirt is converting the measurements you’ve acquired into your pattern. But when you use a full circle skirt calculator, you don’t have to perform the required calculations manually which makes your job easier. For this type of skirt, you need two take two measurements namely:
- The waist circumference which you measure at the waistband level.
- The skirt’s length which you also measure at the waistband level.
After taking the measurements, you can think about the type of skirt you want to make. Then you can input the values you’ve measured in the circle skirt calculator. For a 3/4 circle skirt, this calculator serves as a 3/4 circle skirt calculator and so on. Keep in mind that the smaller the fraction of your skirt is, the less fabric you’ll need.
Aside from using this circle skirt calculator or a circle skirt chart, you can also perform the calculations manually to find out how much fabric you need. To do this, solve for the radius from the middle of the skirt to its waistband:
When making a full circle skirt, use this formula: R = waist / 2π – 2
When making a 3/4 circle skirt, use this formula: R = 4/3 * waist / 2π – 2
When making a half circle skirt, use this formula: R = 2 * waist / 2π – 2
When making a quarter circle skirt, use this formula: 4 * waist / 2π – 2
Adding – 2 at the end of each of the formulas to accommodate the seam allowance. After this first calculation, it’s time to find the length of fabric you’ll need using this formula:
fabric length = length + R + 2
You may notice – 2 again which you still include or the hem allowance. After finding both values, spread your fabric out. Then draw two circles which share a common center. One circle is of radius R while the other circle is of fabric length F. Cut out the pattern and start sewing!
What is a half-circle skirt?
Before using this half-circle skirt calculator, you must first learn what a half circle skirt is. The design of a half circle skirt should fit your waist well then flare outward elegantly on your hips. This type of skirt flatters any figure which makes it a very popular choice.
When the weather gets warmer, you’ll see a lot of women wearing half-circle skirts. It’s an easy and breezy piece of clothing to wear in the summer and you can also pair it with tights for chilly weather. The great thing about a half circle skirt is that it’s easy to make and you can use the same pattern to make skirts of different sizes.
Choose an appropriate fabric when you plan to make this type of skirt. During the winter months, you may choose a weightier fabric while you can go for a light and flowy kind of fabric for your summer or springtime skirt.
Before hemming a half circle skirt, you may want to place it on a mannequin first then leave it overnight to “drop.” Since some parts of this skirt hang on its bias, hanging the skirt on a mannequin allows these parts to naturally stretch own to make your hem more even.
How do you measure for a pleated skirt?
If you’re planning to create a pleated skirt, you don’t have to use this full circle skirt calculator or a circle skirt chart. Unlike circle skirts, sewing pleated skirts is more costly and complex. This is why people used to consider such skirts as a luxury item.
Don’t let the history of pleated skirts scare you. If you sew professionally or as a hobby, you will have to make this kind of skirt at some point. So let’s learn how to take the measurements:
For the skirt itself which requires a rectangular fabric
- For the length, measure the length of the skirt from the waist down. Also, take the measurement of the bottom hem and the upper seam. To get the value of the length, add all of these measurements together.
- For the width, you need to multiply the measurement of the waist by 3. Then double the value of the seam allowance you’ve taken from both sides.
For the band of the skirt which requires a long fabric rectangle
- For the length, multiply your desired length measurement by 2. Then add this value to the allowance of the seam on both sides.
- For the width, add the waist measurement, the seam allowance on both sides and extra value to accommodate overlapping.
