What was I thinking? Last night I sat down to wash the fabric and tape together the skirt pattern for my mini-wardrobe contest entry--it's an elastic-shirred waist circle skirt in a purple lawn print, which I planned to make reversible by lining with a black dotted swiss cotton lawn. Here are the flats and planned fabric again:
As I ironed the fabric dry last night, I realized that the bold motifs ran in vertical stripes down the fabric--how would I ever lay this out with my bagel-shaped pattern pieces?
In my doubts I turned to one of my favorite fashion reference books, "Everyday Fashions of the Fifties: As Pictured in Sears Catalogs" (second in my heart only to "Everyday Fashions of the Forties"). My worst fears were confirmed--there was nary a vertically-striped (or otherwise vertically patterned) circle skirt in sight, though there were a few horizontal or chevroned striped numbers. All the vertically-striped gals were wearing full or fitted skirts:
I trust the Sears catalog ladies, so I'll be "drafting" a full skirt (i.e. taking a big rectangle and gathering it around my pregnant "waist" with shirring elastic.)
As a bonus, how much fun is the 1952 children's circle skirt spread the top image came from? If I ever do make any circle skirts, I will be sure to take every opportunity to pose sitting on the floor with my perfect circle spread out around me!
I'd love to be proven wrong here, by the way--have you ever made or seen a workable vertically-striped circle skirt? Am I just not thinking creatively here?
Cross-posted to my blog.