Thread: trumpet skirt gores

3 questions:

is there a standard as to how wide they should be?

should the gores be an equilateral triangle shape or more of an isosceles triangle shape?

do they need to be slightly rounded at the bottom?

thanks for your help. i've got some cool fabric that's begging to be made into a trumpet skirt and u-top set, and i really want the skirt to turn out well.

I have made several skirts with gores now, I have used different sizes of triangles, but the most successful (swishiest!) had 6 x 1/4 circle inserts, plus a 1/2 circle in the split at one side. The triangles do need to be rounded along the bottom edge, but because they are bias cut, they will also need to be trimmed afterwards to even them up again. If you have a limited amount of material you could go for thinner triangles.

This is one I made, I just made a basic tube/straight skirt and cut vertical lines to make gaps for the inserts with scissors. When sewing the gores in you need to start from the top corner of the triangle otherwise the fabric gets rumpled, especially if you are using a mixture of stretch and non stretch fabrics. I sewed the gores in behind the front fabric, (like doing a cutout) then sewed sequins over the seam so the raw edge didn't show.

Hope this helps!
Ruth x

many thanks!

your skirt is lovely :)

Originally Posted by xodinahox

is there a standard as to how wide they should be?

As far as I know, it is simply a matter of how much flare you want. If you want a straight profile with a little ease, go narrow. If you want more of a mermaid bottom or a train-style flare in the back, go wide. For a basic skirt with four or fewer same-sized inserts, I probably wouldn't go narrower than 75% of the straight panel's width at the base of the triangle--maybe more like the 100-150% range, depending on your body proportions and how bulky the fabric is.

should the gores be an equilateral triangle shape or more of an isosceles triangle shape?

Also a matter of preference. Equilateral shape will be a shorter flare at the bottom of the skirt. Isosceles will be more of a taper. If you already have a trumpet skirt that you like, how are the tapers shaped? Where do the points hit on your legs?

do they need to be slightly rounded at the bottom?

The wider they are, the more the rounding becomes an issue. Unless you're making a lot of very narrow gores, I'd cut radially. As firefly5 points out, depending on your fabric, you may have to let it hang out and even it up before hemming anyway.

i've got some cool fabric that's begging to be made into a trumpet skirt and u-top set, and i really want the skirt to turn out well.

There's always the standard option of buying some cheap fabric and making a test skirt before you cut into your good fabric.

Originally Posted by firefly5

When sewing the gores in you need to start from the top corner of the triangle otherwise the fabric gets rumpled, especially if you are using a mixture of stretch and non stretch fabrics.

You also want to make sure you sew in the same direction for all of the segments. You can get some pretty weird pulling when some of the seams are top to bottom and others are bottom to top.

thanks, Tourbeau! you're always such a great help :)

Originally Posted by firefly5

I
This is one I made, I just made a basic tube/straight skirt and cut vertical lines to make gaps for the inserts with scissors. When sewing the gores in you need to start from the top corner of the triangle otherwise the fabric gets rumpled, especially if you are using a mixture of stretch and non stretch fabrics. I sewed the gores in behind the front fabric, (like doing a cutout) then sewed sequins over the seam so the raw edge didn't show.

Ruth x

your skirt's beautiful...

I have a question- can you expound the bolded part for me?

If I was going to guess I'd say you mean instead of putting "right sides together" you put the right side of the gore against the wrong side of the skirt and just tacked it down?