1. Are you supposed to cut the rectangular tiers in more than one piece? It doesn’t really say to do that, but I can’t figure out how else. For example, if A=40, then you need rectangles w/long ends equaling 40″, 60″, 80″ and 100.” On a 2 yard piece of fabric even if I orient the short ends of the rectangle along the crosswise grain, I won’t have enough room.
2. If you are supposed to cut those tiers in more than one piece, is there a way to make sure all the seams will line up when you sew it together or does that even matter?
3. Am I making this more complicated than it needs to be?
Thanks,
Jay
Replies
To answer your questions in reverse order:
3) It's not your fault that it's more complicated than it needs to be; you may just be reading the instructions differently than the person who wrote them would read them. Sewing is visual, not verbal, and verbal descriptions are read completely differently by every person.
2) If you have to piece together each tier, you will probably stagger the seams, like brickwork. This might offer interesting patching possibilities and add even more design interest.
1) You can probably cut each tier in one piece if you have enough fabric to run them lengthwise, rather than crosswise. That is, you buy a length of fabric as long as your longest tier, and then cut the others from what's left after cutting the first tier. Two yards isn't much fabric for any gathering, as you need almost that much for a smooth A-line skirt. On this design, though, a combination of fabrics would work nicely--maybe a really luxurious, coordinating fabric for the topmost tier?
Thank you for the tips!
I pieced my way too many hours gypsy skirt because my fabric had a horizontal pattern.The bottom tier ended up being in thirds since that was the only way I could work it out with the fabric I had. Its a little odd that way because you have to have a seam in the front somewhere. However, after I made it and started looking at lots of others wearing them,I decided mine was MUCH nicer- the tiers were even, the gathering was even and the ratio of fabric from one tier to the next was good. If you change the length or number of tiers I would suggest using graph paper to see the proportions - it was immediatly obvious that my 1st idea wasn't quite right.I now have a very graceful skirt.
Thank you, Dotty!
Yes, you are making it more complicated than it needs to be. Cut your tiers across the grain so they don't stretch. Seam the pieces together to get the length you need. The seams do not have to match, but they can if you want. It does not matter at all by the time everything is gathered together.
Thanks Autumn! As a matter of fact, I finished my skirt this weekend and really loved the way it came out. I plan on making a couple more and since my teenager and her friend want to make skirts this summer, I'm going to suggest this pattern for them. I'm seeing these little tiered skirts everywhere in the stores.
At any rate, thank you for the tip!
Jay
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