Introducing Project 001: An Elastic Waist Tiered Skirt
A quick intro and the schedule of posts for our first drafting project.
I just wanted to share a quick thank you to everyone who has subscribed already! And a HUGE thank you to those who have pledged to be paid subscribers in the future. It’s so encouraging to have your support. Also, I’m still figuring out the behind-the-scenes tech on Substack and it’s been a little tricky. So, hopefully you have not already received multiple copies of this post.
Drumroll please! The first Sewing With Numbers project is an elastic waist tiered skirt. I chose this project because it’s a very wearable garment, and really easy to draft and sew. In fact, you can make this style of skirt with only rectangular pieces of fabric.
I started playing around with a tiered skirt when I was designing my Eva Sundress pattern. That dress has a gathered tiered skirt and I was very tempted to add the skirt as a view to the pattern. But, there were already three views in the pattern so I decided to save the tiered skirt for later.
This skirt has three tiers of gathered fabric and an elastic waistband. If desired, you can add in-seam pockets and a drawstring as well.
My plan for Sewing With Numbers is that the newsletter will be structured into projects with a few exercises that lead up to the full draft of the pattern. The exercises are a way to ease into the larger draft, take things step by step and dive a little deeper into a particular aspect of a pattern. The final post will talk about variations that you can make to the design to make it your own. (Note, just fyi, I'm not planning to spend a lot of time on construction of the project. This substack is focused on drafting, not construction.)
For the tiered skirt, we will do two exercises, one about drafting the waistband and the other on gathers. Next, I'll share how to draft the entire skirt. Finally, I'll share a few ideas on how you can vary the design of the skirt to make it your own. Check out the schedule below.
UPDATE 01/2025: This drafting project is now archived for Paid Subscribers. You can upgrade to paid to access. Or, click here to purchase a pdf version of the tutorials.
Project 001 Tiered Skirt — Schedule of posts
Friday, April 19, 2024: INTRODUCTION: Elastic Waist Tiered Skirt
Friday, April 26, 2024: EXERCISE: How to Draft an Elastic Waistband
Friday, May 3, 2024: EXERCISE: How to Draft Gathers
Friday, May 10, 2024: DRAFTING: How to Draft a Tiered Skirt & a Calculator
Friday, May 17, 2024: DESIGN: Skirt Design Variations
I also made a glossary page with some drafting terms that you may not know as well as a list of tools that are useful for pattern drafting. I plan on adding to this page as needed.
Glossary & Tools
Definitions of technical drafting terms that are frequently used here. Plus a summary of tools that you will need to follow along with the projects. This post will be updated as needed. Glossary of commonly used terms Seam allowance The seam allowance is the distance from the cut edge of the fabric to the stitching line.
I hope you'll join me for drafting this skirt! Right now, you can support the newsletter by subscribing and sharing or check out the links below.
For the first few projects, this newsletter will be free for all. But in the future I may offer paid subscriptions, or put older posts behind a paywall.
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Happy sewing!
Beth
Hi Beth, first thank you for all your effort. Sidenote about the skirt, I have a swayback. If I just make rectangles it hangs longer in the front than the back. I suppose with this kind of skirt, better to raise the back a little ? Sometimes you also see that they lenghten the back but with the tier it would be difficult I think. What do you think ?