Batty-Chan's Lolita Skirt? | Page 1 | Lolita Design/Sewing | Guild Forums

Albert McFinigan

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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 6:23 am

I'm sure many of you have seen this skirt tutorial. For those who haven't, it can be found here.

I have a question with regards to drafting the pattern. As you can see, the pattern you are being asked to draft is comprised of two pieces cut on the fold. When you go to draft the pattern, thus, you're only drafting half of the front (or half of the back, right?). BUT, for the top measurement, Batty-Chan says to use 1/2 your waist. Should it not be 1/4, because the piece is technically 1/4 of the entire skirt? I thought maybe it was written like that because you were supposed to gather the waist, but I don't really see anything alluding to that in the instructions.

So, am I missing something here (I.E. should I be gathering the waist?) or is there a typo? I'm hoping that someone who has made this skirt before can help me out. :3

Thanks in advance!

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 5:15 pm

When you draft the pattern, you're drafting for half the front and half of the back. Since you're putting it on the fold, when you cut it out, it makes the whole front and whole back and keeps things symmetrical. You're only going to cut two pieces total for the skirt and two for the waistband. The second page of the .pdf shows this, with the arrows on the "pattern pieces" in the diagram pointing at where the fabric is folded in two.

There's no typo or error, you don't need to gather the waist. You just need to look at the diagrams and read more carefully. ^^;

An easier skirt to make would be a rectangle skirt. I can find a tutorial if you're interested.

spuntino
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Albert McFinigan

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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 6:29 pm

spuntino

When you draft the pattern, you're drafting for half the front and half of the back. Since you're putting it on the fold, when you cut it out, it makes the whole front and whole back and keeps things symmetrical. You're only going to cut two pieces total for the skirt and two for the waistband. The second page of the .pdf shows this, with the arrows on the "pattern pieces" in the diagram pointing at where the fabric is folded in two.

There's no typo or error, you don't need to gather the waist. You just need to look at the diagrams and read more carefully. ^^;

An easier skirt to make would be a rectangle skirt. I can find a tutorial if you're interested.

Thank you, but I do not think I made myself properly understood. Let me reiterate:

In her instructions for drafting the pattern, Batty Chan tells us that the waist measurement for HALF of the front should be 1/2 our waist measurement. Should it not be 1/4, considering, like I said and you confirmed, the pattern will be cut on the fold? If 1/4 the waist is cut on the fold, it makes it 1/2 the waist. Then if two of these pieces are cut out, it would make the entire waist measurement, ne? But that's not what it says in the pattern and is thus why I am confused.

(P.S. I do not need a tutorial for a rectangle skirt, thank you. I personally consider myself to be somewhat more capable of making clothing than a basic rectangle skirt.)

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 10:48 am

Ahhh! Apparently I'm the one needing to read more carefully. I misread your question and thought you were asking how to lay the pieces out to make it the right size.

I apologize.

I don't think the text is not a typo, however. The skirt, since it has an elastic waist, gathers itself when you put in the elastic. Unless you want to put a zipper in on the side, making the skirt fit exactly to your waist measurements wouldn't be feasible. Getting it on and off would be impossible. Also, given the proportions she lists, the skirt would be a bit too anemic and more like an A-line than an actual lolita skirt I think.

I can't tell you from personal experience, however. I've never used this pattern and the patterns I have used for this shape of skirt were modified from commercial patterns rather than hand-drafted. Sorry.

spuntino
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Ceana Hikari

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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 7:38 am

I've used the Batty-Chan pattern and made this skirt. It turned out great.

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 1:36 pm

It'd be nice if it had real size patterns you could PRINT and then pin to the fabric.

good luck.

the finished work looks cute. *__*
i bet my gramma has a pattern for this kind of skirt lying around.
I should really ask.

Miko_meido

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Ceana Hikari

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Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 3:43 pm

Miko_meido

It'd be nice if it had real size patterns you could PRINT and then pin to the fabric.

Making the pattern isn't all that hard. I always advise that you double check your measurements and make sure the pattern is right before pinning and cutting. I always get so nervous when I cut fabric. >>

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 4:25 pm

When I used this pattern I extreamly disliked it.

Imo, the rectangle skirts look better and are easier to make no matter what your sewing ability is.

skankmuffin

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