Drafting a basic pencil skirt to your own measurements

Drafting a basic pencil skirt pattern to your own measurements 

1950's skirt suits | Portraits/Photos | 1950s fashion, Fashion, Skirt fashion

Two ladies in tight-skirted suits by Whitley Tailleurs Inc, 500 Seventh Ave New York. My thanks to Jessica at myvintagevogue for the original image. Pinterest.com

Some of us like to wear a skirt very fitted to the body while others like a more comfortable looser fit. It is all a matter of personal taste. Also with this basic skirt pattern your design options are limitless.

 Look at your body shape; do you have a high hip line or maybe your hips are slimmer than your top thigh. One hip may be higher than the other, you have a tummy, all this has to be considered and adjusted so that your finished skirt will hang perfectly. Remember it is great cut that gives good design, better comfort and a professional look.

Begin to draft the basic skirt by following the nine easy steps

Step one: Begin by taking the waist, hip and length measurements.

Use the illustration to find out how and where to take these measurements. The hip line is going to be at the fullest part of your body while the waistline is going to be at the smallest. Measure the body again half way between the hip line and waist line. This will give you the top hip measurement.

Step 2:  On the drafting paper draw a line half your hip measurement in length approximately 2 inches (5 cm) down from the top of the paper. Mark as the waist line. To find the center front and back of the skirt measure across the waist line and divide in half, draw a line from this point down to the finished length of your skirt. Draw a line out from this point to match the length of the waistline. This becomes the skirt hem line. Draw down from each end of the waistline to the hemline.

 Step 3:  Measure down from the waistline 7 – 8 inches and draw in the hip line.  Mark this line as hip line. Draw in a second line half way between the waist line and hip line, mark as top hip. Make sure that these lines cross the center line at a 90% angle. 

            

Divide the hip line measurement in 4; starting at the center front measure along the hip line and make a mark. E.G. if your hip measures 36", 36" divided by 4 = 9"
Repeat on the back hip line.
How mark in the top hip line by dividing in 4 and measuring out from the center front/back line make a mark.Draw a line from the mark  on thee hip line up to the waist line passing though the mark on the top hip line. 

Step 4: Ease has to be added at the hip line so that you can sit and move. For this skirt you are going to add a total of 2 inches of ease, which will give you four equal parts of ½ inch. At the hip line draw out ½ inch at each end and draw a line from this point down to the skirt hem line.

        

Step 5: Measure in from the sides at the waist line ¾ inch, make a mark. Measure up from this mark ¼ inch and mark.

       

Step 6: Using a hip curve, finish drawing in the side seams from the hip line though the waist line to the mark you made in step 5. Make sure that this curve is also giving you some ease on the top hip line the amount will vary depending on your measurement

Step 7: Shape the waist line using a curve;divide the waistline from the centre front line into three equal sections and mark. One third across the waist line from the centre front/back line, measure over again 1 inch and mark, first dart placement. Measure over from this mark 1 1/4inches and mark. Measure over 1 inch and mark the second dart placement. Divide the 2 darts in half and draw in a line from waistline to hem line.

     

Step 8: At the mark on the waistline closest to the centre front/back line make another mark 1 inch over and divide in half. This is going to be the centre of the dart.

      

If your dart is going to be 1 inch wide at the waistline and center the dart so that it is balanced, ½ inch from the line you just drew, as shown.  Now measure down this line 3 -3 1/2 inches, for the skirt front and 5 inches on the skirt back, mark and draw in the darts as shown

Step 9: Draw in a line one inch up from the hip line over to the original skirt side. At this point you can make adjustments to your skirt. Use this line to create a dart to raise the hip line on one side for uneven hips or to hide a problem in the tummy area.