Circle skirt pattern generator

How to make a circle skirt pattern

1. Measure your waist where the skirt will sit (snug, not tight) and the length from there to where the hem should fall. For an elastic waist, measure your hips at the fullest part too: the waist edge has to pass over them.
2. Pick the skirt type (full, three-quarter, half, quarter or double circle), type the waist and length, and say whether your fabric is folded or open and how wide it is. The radii, the maths and the panels update as you type.
3. Check the seam allowances at the waist, side seams and hem, and choose a straight waistband or an elastic casing.
4. Look at the fabric layout and buy the length it gives, in metres or yards. If the skirt was split into panels, the page says why.
5. Print the tiled PDF at 100 %, measure the 10 cm check line, trim and tape the tiles using the tile map, then pin the piece with its grain line along the fabric (and its fold line on the fold) and cut as many as it says.

What it cannot do

• It does not fit a body for you. It uses the waist and length you type; it does not know your hips (except for the elastic option), your posture or how low you wear it. Make a test skirt in cheap fabric if the fit matters.
• It cannot predict how the hem drops. Most of a circle skirt is on the bias, which stretches as it hangs, so the hem comes out uneven; let the sewn skirt hang and level the hem before you finish it. How much it drops depends on your fabric.
• No pockets, zips, linings or facings are drawn. Leave a gap in a seam for a zip; the side seam allowance is the place for it.
• Circle skirts only. No pleated, gathered, gored or A-line skirts.
• It does not nest pieces. Pieces are laid one after another (or side by side when they fit); turning a piece to tuck into another's curve can sometimes save fabric. One-way prints and napped fabric (velvet, corduroy) may need more, as every piece must point the same way.
• An elastic casing on a curved edge has to ease in a little when it is turned down, because the edge it is folded onto is shorter; wide elastic on a very full skirt lies flatter in a separate band.

How the pattern is worked out

A circle skirt is a ring of fabric: the waist is the inner circle and the hem the outer one. If the skirt uses the share f of a full ring (1 for a full circle, ¾, ½, ¼, or 2 for a double circle), its waist line is 2πf × r long, so the waist radius is r = waist ÷ (2πf). The hem radius is R = r + length, and the hem is 2πf × R round. Seam allowances go outside these stitching lines: the cut waist line is the waist allowance inside r, the cut hem line the hem allowance outside R, and each straight seam edge is moved out by the side seam allowance.

A worked example. A 70 cm waist and a 50 cm length as a full circle: r = 70 ÷ 2π = 11.14 cm, R = 61.14 cm and the hem is 384.2 cm round. With a 1 cm waist allowance and a 1.2 cm hem allowance the cut lines are at 10.14 cm and 62.34 cm. On 150 cm fabric folded in half (75 cm) the skirt is two half circles, each a 62.34 × 63.84 cm piece against the fold, so with the waistband it takes 142.4 cm: buy 1.5 m or 1⅝ yd. On 112 cm fabric (56 cm folded) a half circle no longer fits, so it is cut as four quarter circles, 2.4 m in all.

Where the defaults come from. Waist 1 cm, side seams 1.5 cm and hem 1.2 cm (a sewn narrow hem; 1 cm for an overlocked rolled hem) from Hannah-Rose Smith's half circle skirt drafting guide on the BERNINA blog (fetched 2026-10-21). Fabric widths of 36 to 108 inches from Wikipedia's article on bolts of cloth (usually 45 or 60 in; fetched 2026-10-21). The waistband cut as the waist plus seam allowances long and twice its height plus two seam allowances high, with a 2.5 in band as the example, from Treasurie's circle skirt tutorial (fetched 2026-10-21). The casing (turn under ¼ in, fold down the elastic width plus ½ in) and the 1 in elastic overlap from Utah State University Extension's elastic waist skirt sheet, and drafting an elastic waist to the hip from MADE Everyday's circle skirt tutorial (both fetched 2026-10-21). Other patterns use other allowances; change any number to match yours.

Questions

What is the circle skirt formula?

The waist is the inner edge of a ring, so the waist radius is the waist divided by the share of a full circle the skirt uses, times 2π: full circle waist ÷ 2π, three-quarter 2 × waist ÷ 3π, half waist ÷ π, quarter 2 × waist ÷ π, double waist ÷ 4π. The hem radius is the waist radius plus the length. A 70 cm waist gives 11.14 cm for a full circle, 22.28 cm for a half and 44.56 cm for a quarter.

How many yards of fabric do I need for a circle skirt?

It depends on the hem radius and the fabric width, so this page lays the pieces out on your width and measures the run. A 70 cm waist, 50 cm long full circle with a waistband takes 1.5 m (1⅝ yd) of 150 cm fabric folded, but 2.4 m of 112 cm fabric, because the pieces no longer fit across and the skirt is cut in four panels. The total is rounded up to the next 0.1 m and the next ⅛ yd.

How do I add seam allowance to a circle skirt?

Add it outside the stitching lines: take the waist allowance off the waist radius, add the hem allowance to the hem radius, and move every straight seam edge out by the side seam allowance. The defaults here are 1 cm at the waist, 1.5 cm at the seams and 1.2 cm at the hem, from a published half-circle skirt tutorial; change any of them. The radius formula itself uses the stitching line, so the finished waist is the waist you typed.

When does a circle skirt need panels?

When one piece is wider than the fabric. On folded fabric each piece lies against the fold, so it has to fit in half the width. A full circle with a 62.3 cm cut hem radius fits 150 cm fabric as two half circles, but on 112 cm fabric (56 cm folded) it becomes four quarter-circle panels. Each extra seam adds seam allowance to both panels it joins, and the page says why it split.

What is the difference between a full circle and a half circle skirt?

A full circle skirt is a whole ring and hangs in deep, even folds; a half circle is half a ring, with a waist radius twice as big, so it is fuller than an A-line but flatter at the hips and needs much less fabric. A quarter circle is close to an A-line. A double circle is two full rings joined, very full, and takes the most fabric.

Can I make a half circle skirt with an elastic waist?

Yes. Choose Elastic casing: the waist line is then drafted to your hip measurement so the skirt pulls on, the casing depth is the elastic width plus ¾ inch, and the elastic is cut to your waist plus 1 inch for the overlap. With a straight waistband instead, the page gives the band's cut size.