I’ve always love the look of suede skirts for fall, but haven’t ever found one that suited me. I like skirts that are full and long, not tight, short, and covered with buttons. I love circle skirts and ever since I started sewing last year, I’ve had this skirt in mind. I read a lot of tutorials and none of them made sense to me.

In case circle skirts confuse you too, here’s how I made it:

The skirt is made out of this tan moleskin suede. I used the By Hand London Circle Skirt App to determine how to draft the skirt.

1. I told the calculator I wanted a quarter circle skirt in a midi length, but that my waist was 1/2 of its actual circumference.
2. Then I cut out 2 pieces with the measurements the calculator gave me. Why not just use the 1/2 circle skirt function of the calculator? Because it kept telling me that the skirt wouldn’t fit on my fabric!
3. After I’d cut out the fabric for the skirt and sewed the skirt halves together at one side, I cut a waistband that was 5 inches wide by my waist measurement + 4 inches long.
4. I folded the waistband in half, right sides together and sewed the ends shut.
5. I then turned the waistband right sides out and attached it to the skirt. I left the very end of one side of the waistband unattached, and the other end I stopped about 2 inches away from the edge of the skirt piece.
6. Then I inserted the zip, making sure the top of the zip matched the top of the skirt but didn’t extend into the waistband.
   
7. I hemmed the part of the waistband that overlapped.
8. I stitched a button hole into this overhang and sewed a button on the other side. This gave me a nice, neat finish instead of a strange step at the top of the zipper that required a hook and eye.

To go with the skirt, I made up the Sew Over It Pussy Bow Blouse in this gorgeous ivory rayon challis. Isn’t it the perfect accompaniment to a suede skirt for fall?

Alexandra is a librarian and blogs about her sewing and reading adventures over
at The Library of Alexandra.