How to make a Circular Skirt Pattern. Step-by-step and Video Tutorial.

Today I will show you the most straightforward way to learn How to Make a Circular Skirt.

Circle skirts are, in my opinion, one of the easiest garments to sew. This type of skirt has no darts, most of the time is sewn with only two pieces (the waistband and the skirt body), and you only need one body measurement to make the pattern.

Sewing it is also a breeze. If you make it with knit fabrics, you will only need to make two seams -the one on the waist and the hem. That’s it!

So grab your pattern maker’s paper and a pencil. Let’s do this.

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What’s a Circular Skirt?

A skirt from a half, complete, or multiple circles of fabric. It has a hole in the middle of the circle with a diameter that measures waist circumference. A circular skirt with a short length is called Skating Length. 

Circle skirts are usually cut on the bias, making beautiful waves on the fabric without pleats or gathers.

They are usually cut in a single pattern piece. If you make them with stretchy fabric, you can cut them without any side or back seams.

But as we know woven fabrics won’t stretch. As a result, you must have at least one seam for closure like zippers or buttons. This can be achieved by adding the seam allowance for each seam to the waist measurement.

Of course, all of this depends entirely on how wide your fabric is. 

Circle skirts use a lot of fabric; if you want to cut it in a single piece, you will need a fabric wide enough to fit the entire pattern.

What are the different types of Circular Skirts?

You can make a circle skirt in 5 variations: Double, Full, Half, ¾,  and 1/4.

The amazing thing about circle skirts is that the same basis of the pattern makes different styles of the same skirt. 

What makes them different is the amount of flow each one has, even though they are all (or part of) made of circles.

All the variations of these skirts are made from a circular shape. And you have to modify the waist formula to achieve the different amount of waves and flow your skirt will have. 

Once you modify the waist formula, the amount of fabric you need will change too.

Let me explain where each one of them comes from. 

Double Circle Skirt.

The double-circle skirt is made using two complete circles. In this case, the circle skirt formula is modified, so the center circle of each skirt is half of the entire waist girth measurement. Each circle will have a cut from the hem to the waist forming the side seams.

Full Circle Skirt.

The full circle skirt is the basic and most common style of these types of skirts. It is made by calculating the perfect circle, which has the waist girth measurement + negative ease. We have to subtract a percentage of the waist measurement because every fabric cut on the bias tends to grow/stretch. 

3/4 Circle Skirt.

The  3/4 circle skirt is made from 3/4 parts of a circle. It has the right amount of fullness that isn’t too much or too little. The pattern is drafted the way you would draft a full circle skirt (making a full circle) and subtract 1/4 of that circle. The difference is that you must modify the waist formula so the remaining 3/4 waist has the complete waist girth measurement.

1/2 Circle Skirt. 

The Half Circle skirt is made using only half a circle with a full waist measurement. You can draft it by drawing half of the circle from the top edge to the top edge. And on the top edges are going to be the back (or side) seam. It’s better and easier if you only make one seam for this skirt. But you can also cut the pattern in half again, and you can have two side seams instead. 

1/4 Circle Skirt.

The 1/4 circle skirt has less movement and flow than all the circle skirt variations. This skirt is similar to an “A”-line structure once it is sewn. But the 1/4 circle skirt is one single piece with one single closure seam. It falls almost straight from the waist to the hem. The hemming line will increase as the length goes down.

What is the Circle Skirt Formula?

The circle skirt formula is Waist Girth divided by two times pi. 

(Waist Girth/6.28)

When we create patterns for Full, 3/4, and half-circle skirt patterns, we generally subtract ¼” to ⅜” from the resulting amount of the ratio waist measurement to allow for the natural casing and stretching of the fabric.

The adjustment required for the pattern pieces of the Full circle skirt with a waist girth ranging from 24” to 40” is -⅜” (.375”)  from the final result.

On the other hand, the adjustment required for a 3/4 and a-half-circle skirt with a waist girth ranging from 24” to 40” is -¼” (.25”) from the final result.

This formula calculates the ratio to draw the skirt’s inner circle, which is our pattern’s waistline.

3/4 and Half Circle Skirt Example: 28” Waist Girth.

28”/6.28 = 4.45 

4.45” – .25” = 4.20” (Ratio)

In this example, we will need to measure from the corner ¼ of a circle with a 4.20” Ratio. 

Full Circle Skirt Example: 28” Waist Girth.

28”/6.28 = 4.45”

4.45” – .375” = 4” (Ratio)

In this example, we will need to measure from the corner ¼ of a circle with a 4” Ratio.

Full Circle Skirt with Seam Allowance Example: 28” Waist Girth.

The full circle skirt pattern is a complete circle without any cuts for opening/closure. If the fabric of our skirt is stretchy, we don’t need to add any other measurements as we can wear our skirt just by sliding it up or down our legs. The fabric will stretch over our hips and recover to fit our waist.

This isn’t true with wovens fabrics because, generally, our hips will be larger than our waist. That’s why we need to consider the seam allowance for the opening/closure. A good seam allowance for this kind of garment is ½”. Our opening will have two sides, so we need to add the seam allowance twice. The formula will look as follows:

(28” + 1”)/6.28 = 4.6”

4.6” – .375” = 4.25” (Ratio)

In this example, we will need to measure from the corner ¼ of a circle with a 4” Ratio.

How much fabric do I need to make a Circular Skirt?

To calculate the amount of fabric you need for a circular skirt pattern, add the final Ratio + the length of the skirt + the hem’s seam allowance times 2.

(Ratio + Skirt Length + Hem) x 2 = Length and Width of fabric.

You need to look for a fabric that is at least 5” wider than that measurement. And 22 or 3” longer.

Example: 28” Waist Girth, 24” Skirt Length.

(4.5” + 24” + 1”) x 2 = 60” 

So you need a fabric that’s 60” wide. And you will get 1.6 yards (60”) of that fabric.

How to Draft a Circular Skirt Sewing Pattern?

Get the printable instructions at the end of this post or download our Circle Skirt Calculator so you don’t have to do any of this math at all.

Pattern Instructions.

Take a square piece of paper and fold it in four. We are going to draft our pattern from the folded corner. The top and the right side of the sheet have to have folded. And the bottom and the left side will have the open sides of the sheet.

From the top folded corner, measure the final ratio measurement away from the rest of the paper. You will form ¼ of a perfect circle on that corner. That will be our waistline and the inner circle of our skirt.

From the waistline out, measure the length of your skirt and join the marks to form our outer circle. This is our skirt hem.

I always say to you that you should check and consider the growth of fabrics that are cut on the bias. 

Remember the hack I did on my Free Tiered Dress Sewing Pattern? I used a strip of fusible interfacing tape to prevent the growth of the neckline and armholes.

That’s only one trick we used on sewing to treat bias growth.

In the case of a circle skirt, we will have to modify the pattern part that will be cut on the bias (45º of the grainline).

Measure ¼” to ¾” straight up the 45º line, and use your curve ruler (see under measuring tools for sewing) to join this line to the skirt hem.

Make sure you don’t have any corners. The line should be smooth and natural.

How to add Seam Allowances to a Circle Skirt?

The seam allowances for our skirt pattern are on the hem and the waistline. 

You can finish the waistline with a facing or, in the most popular way, a waistband.

If you are going to add a woven waistband, add ½” of seam allowance above the waist of the pattern. On the other hand, if you use a knit fabric, you will join the waistband with a serger, then add only ¼”. As for the hem, you can add 1” to make a rolled hem of ½.”

If you made your circular skirt with an elastic waist and didn’t add the closure seam allowance, then your pattern is ready.

But if you are using wovens and the Full Circle Skirt with Seam Allowance formula, you already have the seam allowance for the opening. Cut your pattern from the center back, and that’s it. You will make the same cut on your fabric for the opening/closure.

The seam allowance is included, so you don’t have to add anything more here.

Circle Skirt with one Opening.

The 1” we added to the waist measurement on that formula is going to become a ½” seam allowance on that cut (½” + ½” = the 1” we added).

You might want to have two seams, which can happen if you don’t have enough fabric to cut the skirt from a single pattern piece.

Circle Skirt with two Openings.

In this case, you can add four-seam allowances to the Full Circle Skirt with the Seam Allowance formula. You will do it four times because you will have two cuts, and each cut will be one open side. That means four open sides in total.

½” times 4 is 2”

Assuming you will use ½” of side seam allowances, the formula will look like this: 

Full Circle Skirt with 2 Cuts Seam Allowances Example: 28” Waist Girth.

(28” + 2”)/6.28 = 4.8”4.8” – .375” = 4.4” (Ratio)

Cutting a Circular Skirt Pattern on Fabric.

Ok. I know until this point, I have thrown you a lot of technical information. But don’t worry, that was it.

Cutting a Circle skirt on fabric is the easiest thing to do.

You can use the complete circle of the pattern and cut once directly on your layout fabric. Or, you can also use only one-quarter of the pattern as I do here.

To cut the quarter pattern on the fabric, firstly, you need to fold the fabric in 4, the same way we did with the sheet of paper to draft the pattern.

Secondly, place the pattern on the corner of the folded fabric so the sides of the pattern are aligned with the folded sides of the fabric.

Finally, cut out over the seam allowances marks of the waist and hem, and you will end up with the perfect circle skirt in a single piece.

After that, you can draft and sew in a waistband and make your favorite kind of hem. 

That’s it!

Do you have any questions about this process? These indications are a lot. So make sure to leave me your questions in the comments so I can help you make your circular skirt pattern to perfection.