Circle Skirts - Lutterloh 300-104, 300-89

Corrie's Eva wearing a fabulous full skirt

I love Coronation Street and have watched it forever.  Aside from the story lines (which drive me crazy sometimes) I love seeing what folks are wearing.  They have a few characters wearing some really nice things lately.  The other day I saw Eva wearing this box pleated full skirt and fell in love.

I bought a gorgeous piece of cotton sateen in a hibiscus print.  I thought Lutterloh's 300-104 (on the left) would fit the bill and set to drawing it out.  I washed and ironed my fabric and laid it out on the floor to accomodate the wide pattern.

And then realized my 56" wide fabric was a tad too narrow.  I thought ok, no problem, I'll just pinch out the middle of the pattern to make it less of an arc.  Well I would almost cut that piece of fabric in half before I would be able to get it all on the fabric.  Time for a plan "B".

Not to be deterred I thought maybe instead of a circle skirt I could still get a full skirt out of 300-89 (on the left).  I set to drawing this one out.  There are four panels on this one instead of two, so maybe this will work?  Well it turns out the panels on this one are too wide as well.  Back to the drawing board.

By this time I was feeling a little frustrated.  I had started my day by having to give my cat a bath for reasons I won't go into.  Who knew cats don't like baths?  Have I mentioned she has all her claws?  Anyway, I decided to throw caution to the wind and make my own pattern.

I started with 300-89 as a base for the waistline.  I then figured out the length I wanted and marked that as my widest point; 22" to work with what I thought was my 45" wide fabric.  In the clear light of the following morning it turns out the fabric is 56".  To draw my hemline I elongated each side seam until they crossed, then used this apex as the centre point to draw my radius (hemline).  I think it worked because the hem looks even.

After doing all this work I laid the patterns out together and found that other than the length I had basically reproduced 89!  Which is just as well, as I'm sure I will still use 89 at some point as I love me a long flared skirt.

I used the waistband from New Look 6107 because I like a nice shaped waistband and the pockets from Butterick 6049.  These pockets are a nice size yet look invisible when my hands aren't in them.  I understitched them and pressed them really well using my clapper.  I used an invisible zip in the back to the top of the waistband so I don't need any other closures.  And I hemmed it to the middle of my knees for a modern fun look.

I'm so glad I remembered to steam and hang the skirt for 24 hours before hemming.  Being that much of the hemline is on the bias it did stretch overnight.  Take a look at the uneven hemline after hanging!  I basted the hem, trimmed the excess, serged the edge and then used a blind hem stitch.

Overall I am very happy with this skirt.  And look - I can wear it with my blue Lutterloh top!