How much fabric do you need to make a skirt?

In a perfect world, we’d wait to buy fabric until we had a specific project in mind, and we could determine the yardage to buy based on the pattern envelope.

I don’t know about you, but rarely do I have a specific pattern in mind when I buy fabric. I tend to shop the other way.

I see fabric I love and think, “Hmm… that would make a nice skirt!” But how much fabric to buy to make a skirt? Gwen from After the Dress has done the research and come up with average yardages for sewing skirts. It’s all part of her “How much fabric to buy?” series. Get the chart for skirt yardages.

A skirt typically requires around two yards of cloth.
If you want to construct a tiny skirt out of woven or knit fabric, 12 yard cloth works well in most sizes. If you want a knee-length skirt, 1 yard broad cloth would enough. A midi skirt will require around 112 yards of fabric, while a long skirt may require up to 2 yards of cloth depending on the style. You’ll need around 2.5 yards of broad fabric for an ordinary maxi skirt.

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I’m always tempted by the pretty velvets at the fabric store. So much texture! And the way the fibers catch the light! But sewing on velvet is trickier than you’d think. That nap that lends beautiful texture also likes to slip and crawl. That nap can also spell disaster if you cut a piece the wrong direction. That isn’t to say you shouldn’t use buy that velvet and sew it into something gorgeous, you just need to go into your velvet sewing project prepared. And Melissa at Melly Sews has a post that takes you step by step through sewing on velvet.

Velvet is such a luscious fabric, especially for winter sewing projects. Of course there are velvet Christmas sewing projects – stockings, tree skirts, santa hats – but velvet is beautiful for all winter. Think of all the gorgeous velvet dresses, evening bags, hair accessories, even pillows and other home décor that you see all winter long.

Melly Sews’ post gives you the tips and tricks you need to know in order for your velvet sewing project to end up a success. There are types of projects better suited for velvets, and kinds of projects to avoid. She describes the different types of velvet available. And she also tells the best way to lay out and cut your pattern pieces from velvet fabric. Her tutorial also covers marking, pressing, and of course sewing that beautiful fabric. There’s also a video included in case that’s your preferred method for learning.

Head over to Melly Sews to learn how to sew on velvet fabric.

And if you want to learn more about that lovely blue velvet dress shown, she has a post that tells more about it including 2 ways to style it depending on if you want to be more dressy or more casual.

[photo credit: Melly Sews]

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