Thread: skirt with gores and other costume-making questions :)

heya,
does anyone have a skirt with a bunch of gores (i'm thinking maybe 6-8?) and a high slit up one thigh?
if yes, would you mind taking a clear pic of it? i'm trying to see where the gores are placed, the number and shape of the non-gore pieces, and how the slit is worked into the skirt...
thanks! :)

look at pics of bella costumes. the typical bella gored skirt has seven gores and a slit; often the slit (over one front thigh) and the center back gore are higher than the other gores. I have two such skirts; the slit would be an eighth gore but there is no fabric in it (except a chiffon panel tucked at the top). onmy crushed velvet skirt, they just cut slits up the fabric, so the skirt was basically one piece of fabric with the seam up the back. my lycra skirt was built out of straight strips of fabric - I imagine they sewed a chiffon piece to a lycra strip, then attached the next lycra strip, and so on. there is a seam above each gore/slit.

sorry no pics, but you should have no trouble finding some. HTH!

Elisa, thanks, i will look at Bellas, and thanks for your explanation that is pretty much what i wanted to know :)
are the gores evenly spaces around the skirt? or are the spaced somewhat differently in order to fall well on the body?

what's "HTH"? i usually figure most abreviations out but this one's getting me ^^

I think it's "hope this helps"

Here's how I make gored skirts from scratch:

Measure yourself around your widest part (for me it's my booty). Divide this number by 6 and add 1 inch. This will be the measurement for your skirt pattern pieces.

Say you are 40" around your widest part. Divided by 6 you get 6.66 inches. Add one and get 7.6 inches (I'd round up to 8 to be safe, and then you get a healthy seam allowance).

Next you'll take your hip to floor measurement (go ahead and measure all the way to the floor). Add 3 inches. Say you're 37" from hip to floor. Your final measurement will be 40".

So now you have 8 inches by 40 inches. This will be the dimensions of your skirt panels. Cut 6 rectangles of this dimension in your skirt fabric.

Next, you'll need to measure your gores. In my opinion gores look best when they start just above the knee, especially if you are shorter than average. Measure from just above your kneecap to the floor. Let's say you get 21 inches. Add one inch to be safe. Next, decide whether you want regular sized gores or extra big luxury gores. Regular gores are 1/8 of a circle. To get a 1/8" circle, you will cut a 1/4 circle and then cut that in half.

Here's how I cut semicircles: I lay out my fabric on my cardboard cutting surface, pin one corner and measure out along the selvage. I pin one end of my measuring tape to the corner of my fabric, and then extend it along the selvage to the measurement I want. Then I insert a pin every 10 inches or so along an arc until I reach the other edge of my fabric. Next, I cut just outside the pins and I get my 1/4 circle. If you are making 1/8 circle gores, simply fold the 1/4 circle pieces in half and cut down the center. You will need five gores to do a skirt with a slit. (Note: in this pattern, there is NO center back slit) I haven't yet done a 7-panel skirt, but I have done a 5-panel skirt with two panels in the back and a center seam where I can insert a deeper gore).

...continued...

Next, you'll sew together your six panels from the top down. Keep in mind you've added 3 inches to your hip to floor measurement. About 2"-2.5" will be your waistband and .5" to 1" will be your hem. I'm really not terribly precise with this part, so please double check your work here. Say you've decided that your waistband will be 2", your total measurement is 40", your final length is 37", and your gores are 21" long. This means your seams will need to be around 18" long from the waistband down. Sew your rectangular pieces together all the way around (NOTE: you probably will want the slit to be higher, so measure that on your body and sew that seam to that measurement, say 11".

Next, you'll pin in the gores to the openings at the bottom of the skirt seams and sew. Sew from the top down, and don't worry too much if the edges of the gores don't line up exactly with the edges of the straight pieces, as you will cut the excess from the bottom once you're done. The trickiest part of inserting the gores is getting the very tops sewn in so that they don't pucker; this takes practice.

Once you have the gores sewn in, try the skirt on. You should have enough excess at the to to fold over and do a self casing, or if you are really anal you can cut a separate casing from your fabric to add to the top (this can also help you out of a jam if your skirt has come out shorter than you wanted). After you get the waistband done, have a friend cut the bottom of your skirt so that it is even all the way around, and then sew a narrow hem. Some fabrics, such as lycra and metalskins don't even need a hem on the bottom edge, so take this into account as you are cutting your fabric.

Hope this helps! (HTH!)

sweet, thanks!!

do you have a pic of the finished project? i'd love to see it :)

i can't decide how many gores i want. i want it rather swooshy at the bottom, but don't know if that would be best with many 1/8-circle gores, or fewer larger gores... i'm going through vids trying to see how many gores there are in the skirts ..l;,

do you add a zipper and hooks or something for closure? i'm *probably* going to use stretch velvet, but i want to do some beading on it, so it may lose the stretch factor due to that.

also, i'm not sure yet if the gores'll be the same fabric as the rest of the skirt, or chiffon. does chiffon need the be hemmed?

I do have a skirt that I've made recently, no pics, but I have video! I need to check whether I used 1/8 circle gores or 1/4 circle gores. That's the only difference in my regular vs. luxury skirts.

Here's my video, and I know it's not great quality, but it's 4:30 am here and it's the best I can do!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UgSbFZXMBQ]YouTube - tamrahennabellydance040309[/ame]

Oh, and I did only elastic in the waist.

sweet, thanks for the vid!!! you look great! :)
why aren't you sleeping? ..l;, (yeah, i can talk, i went to bed at 2:30am last night lol)
you're pretty lucid and make great explanations for 4:30am ..g.: usually if i hold til then i'm pretty much braindead ^^

yes - chiffon would need to be hemmed. you could do a simple zigzag stitch over the edge to do a super simple faux rolled edge.

for more references -

on bella skirts, the gores are 24", with the higher center back gores 2-3" higher. the chiffon inserts are quarter circles.

on l rose design skirts, the gores are 18" on the regular trumpets, and the higher gores on the deluxe and super deluxe are 24". insets are 1/8 circles.

personally, I find the bella skirts divinely swishy - the gold standard of twirlyness, and I recently sold all of my old standard l rose skirts and upgraded them to the super deluxe models with high gores all around. if you're doing chiffon inserts, I'd recommend quarter circles; with same-fabric gores, 1/8 circles would be fine (I wonder if 1/4 circles would be too much in same-fabric?).

thanks for the references!!

Originally Posted by elisagamal

(I wonder if 1/4 circles would be too much in same-fabric?).

i was thinking that too, that 1/4 circles in chiffon are great but another fabric might be too heavy or something.
i'm going with 7 pretty high chiffon gores and one higher slit. so far i'm working on the patron basing myself on what TH said, and adapting it a little to what i have in mind :)


question: if i'm going to do beading in the top of the skirt, do i have to line the inside afterwards? how do you costuming girls do it?

Hey girls,
Thanks for the detailed info, I was planning to ask this myself.
cheers Rosemarie

Originally Posted by Kathiya

question: if i'm going to do beading in the top of the skirt, do i have to line the inside afterwards? how do you costuming girls do it?

shoulda specified, it's not so much because there might be strings on the inside that might bother me or end up breaking or whatnot, but also i don't know how well the fabric will hold up? i'm not planning on making extremely heavy beadin, but still... do bella's skirts have some kind of solidifying base or something?

also,
question 2: at the slit, i'm hesitating between making a modesty panel-ish thing, or frills. not very frilly frills, but more wavy-ish ones. how does one make vertical frills? i kinda have ideas but would like to know how they're normally done :)

frills: you mean like a wavy non-gathered ruffle? if so, you do those by cutting the fabric on a curve (imagine folding a half circle skirt panel in half, and half again and so on until you get a narrow pie-shaped wedge. cut 4" off the bottom, then another 4" and so on, sew the strips together. hem the "long" side and then attach the "short" side to your skirt).

on my egyptian lycra skirts, the beading is done directly onto the fabric. one of my bella skirts (not beaded at the top - it has a belt that goes over) there is a beaded mesh lined cutout. it looks like they layered some thin bukram type fabric under the velvet finished the edges, added the mesh as the innermost layer, and then beaded through all of the layers.

Originally Posted by Kathiya

sweet, thanks for the vid!!! you look great! :)
why aren't you sleeping? ..l;, (yeah, i can talk, i went to bed at 2:30am last night lol)
you're pretty lucid and make great explanations for 4:30am ..g.: usually if i hold til then i'm pretty much braindead ^^

I was having a very rare episode of insomnia - I think I probably should not have had the super-sized energy drink after 9pm...

for the mesh cutouts - that makes sense, making a kind of sandwich, so that the mesh is held firmly without destroying it...
but do you think the fabric would hold up to being beaded directly?
hmmm, i need to ask ozma, her peacock skirt is kinda similar to what i had in mind regarding beading amounts...

and yes, a ruffle kinda thing :) i was thinking more like 2", but oooooooo an arc.... i was thinking using a rectangular shape and that the weight of the fabric would pull it down and make it slightly wavy....
sweet, will try!

thanks elisa! :)

I will reply here instead of via your PM:

I recently answered the same question on my Ozma's costumes facebook page.

I wish I could give basic advice, but this skirt went through many alterations and it was my first beaded stretch skirt.

It started a basic L.Rose knock off (6 long rectangles and 6 gores) but it was too large (I'd been too generous with my measurements) so I sliced one rectangle down the middle and joined it again to make the slit...still a little large so I slit the back rectangle in half, darted it at the top a bit, and added a zipper and closed it back up.

I decided for a zipper and re-enforced the edge with grosgrain ribbon so I could do some fairly tight beading around the waist (and could always add elastic with a thread sleeve inside later).

I didn't you any other stabilizer for the beading (except the cutouts) and while I worked I kept my fabric loosely stretched with a large embroidery hoop, knotted often, and kept my bead work precise but with a little bit of wiggle room for a very slight stretch.

What I would recommend: 8 rectangles, 7 gores (leave one out for a skirt slit...decided if you want a zipper or not. I go with zippers because it means I can narrow at the waist, like a dart, without stretching the waist too much when I pull it on and off...and still keep some nice room for my butt.

Does that help?

Originally Posted by ozma

Does that help?

Loads, thanks!!
ok so they are rectangles... i was trying to make mine tight at the waist, tight at the hips and butt, and tight to about mid-thigh/almost knee before starting the flare out. but to get it tight from waist to bottom thigh, i had to make the rectangles slightly larger at the butt area, so they weren't rectangles anymore but rather, started out thin-ish, got a little larger, then thinned down again. the theory seemed good, but that looked really wonky when tried on because i don't have a second butt in front lol. I figure the reason it's not working too well is that the patron i'm making is cotton, so doesn't allow for any stretch, which is something stretch-velvet would, so it would still be tight-ish around the waist and thighs while allowing stretch for the butt...
well, i'll just have to cross my fingers and test with the actual expensive fabric lol ^^

random question, my mom when she quilts, she draws on the fabric with a white pencil to be able to easily follow the design she wants. she then 'erases' with a little comb thingy, or washes the quilt.
she only ever uses cotton, but do designers and such use this method on other fabrics like velvet and such? or is there another similar method, other than the 'pins along the line' or 'quick-stitch the line'? beading would be so much easier if we didn't have to keep putting down the fabric to see where we have to go next...

Originally Posted by Kathiya

Loads, thanks!!
ok so they are rectangles... i was trying to make mine tight at the waist, tight at the hips and butt, and tight to about mid-thigh/almost knee before starting the flare out. but to get it tight from waist to bottom thigh, i had to make the rectangles slightly larger at the butt area, so they weren't rectangles anymore but rather, started out thin-ish, got a little larger, then thinned down again. the theory seemed good, but that looked really wonky when tried on because i don't have a second butt in front lol. I figure the reason it's not working too well is that the patron i'm making is cotton, so doesn't allow for any stretch, which is something stretch-velvet would, so it would still be tight-ish around the waist and thighs while allowing stretch for the butt...
well, i'll just have to cross my fingers and test with the actual expensive fabric lol ^^

random question, my mom when she quilts, she draws on the fabric with a white pencil to be able to easily follow the design she wants. she then 'erases' with a little comb thingy, or washes the quilt.
she only ever uses cotton, but do designers and such use this method on other fabrics like velvet and such? or is there another similar method, other than the 'pins along the line' or 'quick-stitch the line'? beading would be so much easier if we didn't have to keep putting down the fabric to see where we have to go next...

I use tailor's chalk, which is probably what your mom uses in pencil form.

ooooo, it exists in other forms? i'ma gonna buy me some of that!