Help me sanity-check a low-waste gore layout for a Ren Faire overskirt?
I'm making a new overskirt for my daughter and want to copy the basic construction of an old one that fits her well. I made the original with an acquaintance about 25–30 years ago, so I'm working from the existing skirt rather than a pattern.
The skirt is basically a gathered, gored overskirt that closes at the front with grommets and lacing. It doesn't need to be an exact replica; I'm mostly trying to figure out an efficient cutting layout.
Measurements of the existing skirt:
Waistband: 31" long
Finished length from waistband to hem: 40"
Hem circumference: approximately 240"
Five panels total: three full gores and two half-gores
Estimated full-gore width: 16" at the top and 62" at the bottom
Estimated half-gore width: 8" at the top and 31" at the bottom
The top of the skirt is lightly gathered into the waistband.
The original panels appear to have been cut with the full gores on the fold, plus two half-gores to complete the skirt. The top widths add up to about 64", gathered into the 31" waistband.
My plan:
I'm using a solid-color woven cotton bedsheet that's only been used a few times (it's the blue fabric under the red skirt). I've cut off the already-doubled top portion of the sheet to make the waistband, and I'm adding a third layer for reinforcement. I'll probably add interfacing or an extra strip of sturdy fabric around the grommet area.
I'm considering a low-waste layout where I alternate the direction of the gores and nest the narrower ends beside the wider ends, as shown in my drawing. The sheet is about 60" wide.
My questions:
Does this cutting layout look workable?
Am I overlooking anything important about grain direction or how the gores will hang when cut this way?
Is there a better way to nest the panels while keeping the layout reasonably low-waste?
I'm not trying to reproduce the original pattern perfectly, and the skirt design is forgiving. I'd appreciate any advice on the layout before I start cutting!
The cutting layout you've shown is not for 3 gores at the front and 2 at the back, so I'm not sure if you're actually planning gores or not.
The length of the skirt needs to run parallel with the selvage
You'll need to add an extra section of fabric where the closures will be, and this means you'll need to cut the front and back pieces separately.
You're showing a picture of a tape measure on her existing skirt, with it all folded up - is this how you measured it? If so it won't be accurate. Instead of this method, measure her actual waist.
Kindly, a flared skirt with 3 gores at the front and two at the back, plus closures and a waistband is advanced beginner level to sew, but not simple to draft. I learned how to draft these in a pattern drafting class.
Thank you so very much for taking time to write such a detailed response. I am deeply grateful.
What a great resource! I can be going down a rabbit hole. There is so much amazing information here!
The red skirt has the three large gores sewn together, and then the two smaller gores are in the front. The skirt is fully open in the front. Here is a picture of it opened up with each panel marked. I've also posted a photo in the thread of the skirt on a mannequin.
I'm using a sheet, so I'll line it up so the length is parallel with the side seams of the sheet. The "Selvedge" arrow on my sketch was intended to point to the dotted line, not the top edge of the sketch. It's totally not clear and I even confused myself between sketching it last night and looking at it now. Thank you for pointing that out.
I'm not sure what you mean.
I measured it opened up, not like this. It's folded up so that the seams are all on one side and the opening on the other. I was just laying the tape measure on for a general idea. Her waist is 29" and the red skirt is 31". Because it closes with grommets and is tied, it fits and has a lot of wiggle room.
Fair point. And "Advanced beginner" is exactly how I'd classify my skill level (it wasn't an option in the flairs, so I optimistically opted for "intermediate" over "beginner."
When we made the red skirt 30 years ago, I was pretty broke and working at the Renaissance festival for about $150/ week, so economy of fabric was key. I don't remember all the details, but what I do remember is my "friend" (dude turned out to be a douche canoe, but I was young, stupid, and a bit of a douche canoe in my own way. All that is another story for another time), who also worked at the Faire, made the red skirt with me. I remember he did alternating triangles (I guess they are actually trapezoids). There was no "pattern," he just used a measureing tape and chalk. He was not a pattern drafter, or anything special. Just a dude who figured out how to make a good ren faire skirt.
The skirt has held up for 30 years with only a small tear that was my own fault. It's all french seamed, the grommets are holding strong, no signs of wear, waist band still looks great. Damn thing is well made.
Anyway, I don't HAVE to do it the same way, and I've always wanted to see if I CAN. So now I'm working off of a 30 year old memory and examining the original to see if I can recreate it. I'm not worried about the EXACT measurements (a little shorter, wider, longer is fine), but I would like the proportions to be at least close.
I've made skirts with approximately this cutting layout with the alternating gores in different directions. However I've always done it with many more gores because the higher the number of gores, the smoother it looks. I haven't done anything similar cutting on the cross grain. I think it would probably work but I'm not certain.
I'll have a closer look at the red skirt we made. I'm really confident we did it with the alternating gores. I like your point about more gores making it smoother, but there are definately some big gores in the red skirt.
Photo of the skirt on Matilda showing how it ties over another skirt. I'm replacing the ecru skirt with a blue skirt. I want it in the same basic style of the red skirt so that daughter can tie one in the back and layer the other over the top and tie it in front (or whatever she wants to do). On daughter, the split meets and is not open like it is on Matilda. The cool thing about this skirt is it's very forgiving and it CAN have a wide split, or overlap just at the grommets, it's very forgiving and allows for options.
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u/ArtemisiaPrime 1d ago
I don't thing cutting cross-grain is going to work, you'll have a lot of issues with the fabric skewing.