Betty Vintage Circle Skirt

Pattern Markings 

Transfer all pattern markings to the fabric. 

The small lines on the sides of the skirt pieces are notches to indicate which pattern pieces join together. If you are familiar with notches, transfer these to the fabric. If you are not familiar with notches, you can skip marking these as the construction method is explained step-by-step as we go.

Interfacing

Apply iron-on interfacing to the Front and Back Waistband pieces.

If you are doing the side seam Pocket option, skip to step 2. If you are not doing Pockets, continue below.

SERGER / OVERLOCKER OPTION – If you are using a serger, place the Front Skirt and Front Side together. Pin down the side seam and then serge using a ½ inch seam allowance. Repeat to attach the Back Sides to the Front Sides, and the Backs to the Side Backs. Press all seams to the side. Leave the back open. Then skip to step 3.

REGULAR SEWING MACHINE OPTIONS – We are going to do French seams to stitch the skirt pieces together. The reason we will be doing a French seam is because it hides all the raw edges and gives a much cleaner finish. If you haven’t done these before, don’t worry, all the steps are below so you can just follow along.  

With the wrong sides together (right sides outwards), pin the Front Skirt to the Front Side along the side seam. 

Stitch ¼ inch from the edge. Backstitch at both ends.

Trim the seam allowances approximately in half.

TIP – You are trimming here so that when you encase the seam in the next step all the threads and raw edges are hidden. I generally try to trim my seam allowance in half as I like to make sure absolutely nothing is sticking out. However, just neatening up the edge here will also suffice.

Turn wrong side out and press from the other side as flat as you can. Make sure that the seam line is at the exact center of your fold.

Pin and stitch again approximately ¼ inch from the edge. Press. This will encase the raw edges so you can’t see them (a French seam).

We will be repeating steps 1.1 to 1.4 to attach the rest of the skirt pieces together. The pieces will be attached together in the following order: Back Piece, Back Side, Front Side, Front Piece, Front Side, Back Side, Back Piece. The center back seam is the only seam that will not be sewn yet.

Skip to step 3.

If you are doing the side seam Pocket option, continue below.

SERGER / OVERLOCKER OPTION – 

• With right sides together, position a Pocket piece on the side seam 1 inch from the top raw edge of the Front Side piece. Repeat for the other three Pocket pieces so you have one on each Front Side and Back Side seam. Serge in place using a ½ inch seam allowance. Before sewing, make sure to check you have the mirrored pattern pieces matching when you put the Fronts and Backs together. 
• Place the Front Side and Back Side skirt pieces together, stitching down each side seam pivoting around the Pockets using a ½ inch seam allowance. Clip the seam allowances to enable you to serge all the way down and around the Pockets. Serge to finish the seam. 
• Serge the Front Sides to the front, and serge the back pieces to the Back Side pieces. Your skirt should now be assembled except the back seam. Leave this open. Then, skip to step 3.

REGULAR SEWING MACHINE OPTIONS – We are going to do French seams to stitch the Pockets to the skirt, and then the skirt pieces together. The reason we will be doing a French seam is because it hides all the raw edges and gives a much cleaner finish. If you haven’t done these before, don’t worry, all the steps are below so you can just follow along.  

If you are doing the Pockets, determine where you would like your Pockets to be, taking into consideration the seam allowance along the waist and bottom. I recommend placing 1 inch from the top raw edge of the skirt pieces.

Place one of your Pockets with the flat side along the outside edge of one of your Front Side pieces, with wrong sides together.

Pin and sew your Pocket along the straight edge using ¼ inch seam allowance.

Trim your seam allowance in half.

TIP – You are trimming here so that when you encase the seam in the next step all the threads and raw edges are hidden. I generally try to trim my seam allowance in half as I like to make sure absolutely nothing is sticking out. However, just neatening up the edge here will also suffice.

Flip your Pocket over so right sides are together and press well along your seam.

Sew along the edge of the Pocket with a ¼ inch seam allowance.

You will now have a fold on the top and bottom of your Pocket.

Snip ¼ inch into the seam allowance of the skirt piece, just adjacent to the Pocket, so that the fabric now lies flat. Do not cut further into the seam allowance or past the Pocket. 

Repeat on the bottom of the Pocket.

Flip your Pocket out and press your seam well.

Edge stitch along the Pocket/skirt seam.

If you haven’t done edge stitching before, keep the Pocket piece flipped away from the skirt.  Stitch between ⅛ and ¼ inch from the seam line.  This will hide the raw edges and catch the seam allowance underneath, so it all lays flat in the finished garment.

Repeat steps 2.1 to 2.5 on the other skirt Front Side piece and also on your Back Side pieces to attach the other Pockets, making sure the Pockets match up equal distances from the top. When you are pinning, check you have matching pairs of Pockets on each side of the skirt.

Once you have your Pockets attached to the Front Side and Back Side pieces, we will put it all together. 

Place your Front Side and Back Side pieces with wrong sides together, matching up the Pockets and also the top and bottom of your skirt. Pin.

Starting at the top of the skirt piece, sew ¼ inch seam allowance down the side seam until you are ¼ inch over the top of the Pocket.

Lift your presser foot, pivot so you are facing down the Pocket, drop your presser foot and continue around the Pocket, still sewing with a ¼ inch seam allowance.

Once you are ¼ inch onto your bottom piece again, pivot until you are parallel to the side seam. Sew to the bottom. 

Trim your seam in half.

Flip your skirt so that right sides are now together. Press well. Match up the tops and bottoms of the skirt and the top and bottoms of the Pockets.

Sew down the side of the skirt, around the Pocket and back down the side, all with a ¼ inch seam allowance. Turn right side out and press the seam towards whichever side of the skirt you’d like to be the back.

Repeat steps 2.1 to 2.10 on the other side of the skirt for the other Front Side and Back Side pieces and Pocket pieces.

With the wrong sides together (right sides outwards), pin the front to one of the Front Sides along the side seam. Make sure the Back Side pieces are tucked out of the way as you sew.

Stitch ¼ inch from the edge. Backstitch at both ends.

Trim the seam allowances approximately in half.

TIP – You are trimming here so that when you encase the seam in the next step all the threads and raw edges are hidden. I generally try to trim my seam allowance in half as I like to make sure absolutely nothing is sticking out. However, just neatening up the edge here will also suffice.

Turn wrong side out and press from the other side as flat as you can. Make sure that the seam line is at the exact center of your fold.

Pin and stitch again approximately ¼ inch from the edge. Press. This will encase the raw edges so you can’t see them (a French seam).

Repeat steps 2.11 to 2.14 to attach backs to the Back Side pieces.

The pieces will be attached together in the following order: Back Piece, Back Side, Front Side, Front Piece, Front Side, Back Side, Back Piece. The center back seam is the only seam that will not be sewn yet.

SERGER / OVERLOCKER OPTION – If you are using a serger, serge the Front Waistband pieces to either side of the Back Waistband piece using a ½ inch seam allowance. Repeat to attach the lining Front Waistbands to the lining Back Waistband. Then continue to step 3.4.

REGULAR SEWING MACHINE OPTIONS – Follow below.

Place the Front Waistband and one of the Back Waistband pieces right sides together, pin on the short end and then stitch together using a ½ inch seam allowance. 

Press the seam open.

Repeat step 3.1 to attach the other Back Waistband to the other side of the Front Waistband.

Repeat steps 3.1 and 3.2 for the lining waistband pieces.

Fold the long edge of the lining Waistband ½ inch to the wrong side and press.

NOTE – If you are using directional fabric, the folded edge will be the bottom edge of the Waistband lining. If your fabric can go either way up, just pick one long edge, and fold it under and press.

Pin the Main Waistband and Lining Waistband together along the long edge and stitch using a ½ inch seam allowance. 

Press the seam allowance open.

Pin the Waistband to the top of the skirt and stitch using a ½ inch seam allowance. Press the seam allowance up toward the Waistband.

FIT CHECK 

• This is a woven fitted skirt so it may require some fitting. If you are at the very top of your size range, the waistband should fit exactly. 
• If you are even ½ inch below the top of your size range, you may wish to adjust at the back seam before continuing. 
• We recommend trying the skirt on now and pinning the center back seam using a ½ inch seam allowance. 
• If it fits as you wish, continue on. 
• If it is loose, adjust the pins to make it tighter, keeping them parallel to the seam allowance from the waist down to the hem (e.g. so you are taking the skirt in an even amount all the way down so that it still twirls evenly). Double and triple check you are happy with the fit, then trim the excess fabric, making sure to leave a ½ inch seam allowance on each side. Continue on.

SERGER / OVERLOCKER OPTION – If you are using a serger, serge both back edges of the skirt to finish. Do not remove any seam allowance, just serge to finish. Then continue on with step 4.1.

REGULAR SEWING MACHINE OPTIONS – Follow along below.

Unzip your invisible zipper. Place it teeth face down onto your ironing board.

What you want to do here is iron the zip, so the teeth are as unfolded as possible. The best way I find to do this is press the teeth towards the center with my fingers gently then butt the iron up against them before sliding the iron along the rest of the zip. The zip will look a little odd now, but the teeth should now lay flat (vs being curled upwards as they are when the zip is done up).

NOTE – Use a warm dry (no steam) iron. Be careful not to iron directly on top of the teeth as it can damage or melt them. The goal is just to flatten the zip out a little to make it easier to attach.

Press a ½ inch seam allowance along each edge of the skirt.

Unfold the seam allowance. With the skirt right side up, place your zipper teeth side down onto the skirt.

Pin the left side of the zip to the skirt.

Line the zipper teeth up with the folded seam allowance so that they are ½ inch from the raw edge. This will allow us to stitch using a ½ inch seam allowance and have the zipper perfectly aligned with it. 

Align so the top stop (where the zipper teeth start) is ⅛ inch down from the top of the waistband. There may be a piece of zipper tape that extends up into the lining of the waistband. Just ignore this. It’s the zipper teeth we want to stop exactly at the top of the waistband. That excess bit of tape and the waistband lining will get tucked inside and be hidden in the final garment.

TIP – Take a moment here to check you’ve got the correct side of the zip on the correct side of the skirt. Also, that the zip and skirt are right sides together.

INVISIBLE ZIPPER FOOT OPTION – If you have an invisible zipper foot, put this on your machine now. Line up the zipper teeth in the left side groove of your foot. Stitch from the top zipper stop all the way down to the notch using a ½ inch seam allowance.

REGULAR ZIPPER FOOT OPTION – If you don’t have an invisible zipper foot, install your regular zipper foot. Stitch the zip to the skirt, as close to the zipper teeth as you can. Stitch from the top of the zipper all the way down to the pattern notch.

NOTE – Only stitch from where the zipper teeth start. Do not stitch the bit of tape that protrudes into the Waistband Lining. We are only stitching the zipper to the Main Waistband and skirt.

Close the zipper and then place a pin on the right zipper tape where the bottom of the stitching is. This pin will line up with the notch you marked from the pattern piece back in the preparation step to ensure that your zipper stays lined up when you sew it to the right side of the skirt.

Repeat steps 4.4 to 4.5 with the right zipper tape on the right side of the skirt.

It may feel awkward, but we will now stitch from the top of the skirt downwards, stopping at the notch. This keeps your zip aligned from the top downwards.

TIP – If your zipper is longer than you need, you can hand sew around the bottom of the zipper to make a new zipper stop. Then you can just trim your zipper down to the length you need.

Close the zipper and make sure that it is not visible from the right side. If there is a gap that shows your zipper, you can sew another line of stitching closer to the zipper teeth. You do not need to remove your first line of stitching.

The zipper stop should align perfectly with the top of the waistband. The waistband lining will extend up above this for now until we turn it down later.

SERGER / OVERLOCKER OPTION – If you are using a serger, you will have already serged the back edges, so they are finished. Place the skirt right sides together and stitch using a ½ inch seam allowance down the back to close the skirt under the zipper. Then, skip to step 7.

REGULAR SEWING MACHINE OPTIONS – We are going to do a French seam to stitch the skirt back together below the zip. It’s slightly different to the previous French seam as we have to first detach the seam allowance from the zip. Follow along below.

Clip into each side of the seam allowance, just under where the zipper stitching ends. 

TIP – You want to clip as close to the stitching and fold as possible without cutting into it. Aim for approximately 1-2 mm below the stitching and snip approximately 1-2 mm away from the fold. If you snip too far, you will have a hole so err on the side of caution. You can always come back and snip a little more if you find later your seam isn’t laying flat.

We will now start our French seam. From here it is the same as the side seams but just below the zip. Bring the seam allowance to the right side of the skirt and pin them together with the wrong sides together (right sides outwards). Stitch ¼ inch from the edge. Backstitch at both ends.

Trim the seam allowances approximately in half to neaten the seam.

Turn wrong side out and press from the other side as flat as you can. Make sure that the seam line is at the exact center of your fold.

Pin and stitch again approximately ¼ inch from the edge. Press. This will encase the raw edges so you can’t see them (a French seam). 

TIP – You want to start stitching as close to the bottom of the zipper stitching as possible. Use your zipper foot so you can get really close. The goal is to make the seam look continuous from the zipper downwards while wearing the finished garment.

Lift the zipper tape up and out of the way near the waistband so you can see the raw edge of the back seam allowance underneath.

Clip halfway into the seam allowance of the main waistband approximately ½ inch above where the waistband joins the skirt. This is so we can turn the section of seam allowance below this under on itself in the next step. 

The blue line in the photo is where you snip. The pink line is the existing stitching of where the waistband meets the skirt. You should be approximately ½ inch above this, and you only need to snip ½ way into the seam allowance.

Fold the seam allowance on the side of the zipper under on itself so the raw edge is hidden between the zipper and the seam allowance, pin the seam allowance to the zipper tape and press.

The goal here is to hide the raw edges so that the inside of the skirt is completely finished.

This is a very narrow section of seam allowance, so this can be a bit tricky. If you have them, pin using dress maker’s pins or glass head pins (not plastic head pins). That way you can press with the pins in place to make it easier. Make sure to put a pressing cloth or clean tea towel over the pins before pressing so they don’t mark your iron.

Stitch the seam allowance to the zipper tape. You want to stitch as close to the folded edge as possible.

Repeat steps 6.1 to 6.3 for the other side of the zipper.

Flip the Waistband Lining over to the wrong side of the skirt and pin. Make sure the seam allowance at each short end is tucked under. The Waistband should be wrong side to wrong side together.

Tuck the top of the zipper tape into the lining so it is hidden. 

All raw edges at the Waistband should now be neatly tucked away inside and the zipper should go all the way to the top of the Waistband.

TIP – The folded edge of the lining should be just below the seam where the Waistband attaches to the skirt. That way when you do step 7.2 you will catch the waistband on both sides when you sew. I overlapped mine approximately ⅛ inch to do this.

From the right side of the skirt, stitch along the seam where the Waistband attaches to the skirt. This is called ‘stitching in the ditch’.

If you haven’t done this before stitching in the ditch is when you sew exactly on top of a previous seam. The stitching will not be easily visible in the finished garment and you will catch the other side of the Waistband in your stitching, so the raw edges are all hidden.

Stitch slowly and hold the Waistband and fabric flat on either side of the presser foot to help you get the stitch right into the crease, so it is not visible on the finished skirt. Lift the skirt up occasionally and check you are catching the other side of the Waistband in your stitching. 

When you have finished, check if the short ends are also secure. If not, stitch down these approximately ¼ inch from the edge using your zipper foot to secure all raw edges inside.

TIP – If you’ve used a contrasting fabric for your Waistband Lining, change your bobbin thread to match it before stitching.

TIP – Use a thread in your needle that matches the skirt and aim for a tiny fraction onto the skirt instead of the waistband and it usually ends up fairly invisible.

ALTERNATIVE – If you would prefer, you can topstitch on the actual Waistband (approximately ⅛ inch from the crease). Your stitching will be more visible but it’s definitely easier.

FIT CHECK – Try the skirt on and check if you are happy with the length, allowing for a ½ inch hem. Make any adjustments you’d like. This is where you can choose to hang your almost finished skirt for a few days to let the fabric rest before deciding where to hem. Then, continue on. 

SERGER / OVERLOCKER OPTION – If you are using a serger, serge the hem edge. Then turn under ½ inch, press, and topstitch in place.

REGULAR SEWING MACHINE OPTIONS – Follow along below.

Turn the hem under ¼ inch and press.

Turn the hem under another ¼ inch and press. The raw edges will now be enclosed in the folds. Then topstitch in place by stitching close to the folded edge. 

TIP – You want your stitching to be the same distance from the bottom of the skirt as much as possible so that it looks nice and neat from the outside. To do this, use your presser foot or a marking on your foot plate on your sewing machine to line up your fabric so you get a nice even stitch all the way around.