How to Gore a Skirt
A gored skirt is made of several long, trapezoid-shaped panels of fabric. The panels are much wider at the bottom than they are on the top, giving the skirt an A-line silhouette. To gore an existing skirt, you will need to make sure that the skirt is full enough to be reshaped and still fit you. The best candidates for this style included pleated and gathered skirts, as their basic construction usually begins with a plain rectangle of fabric.
Things You'll Need
- Seam ripper
- Tape measure
- Pencil
- Tissue paper
- Scissors
- Pins
- Sewing machine
Instructions
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1
Remove the body of the skirt from its waistband using the seam ripper. The seam ripper will allow you to get very close to the threads themselves, making for a cleaner rip than one performed with scissors. Set the waistband aside.
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2
Measure the bottom hem of your dress and divide that number by the number of gores you want your final skirt to have. Record the resulting number. Measure your waist at the point where the skirt's existing waistband hits and divide it by that same number, as this will tell you how wide the tops of your trapezoidal pattern pieces need to be. Add 1/2 an inch to the width of the waist measurement to allot for 1/4 inch seams.
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3
Create a pattern piece measuring the length of the existing skirt and the width of your waist divided by the number of gores, plus 1/2 an inch. Taper the sides of the piece out to the hemline, which will measure the width of the skirt's existing hemline divided by the number of gores. Trace these measurements onto the tissue paper and cut the piece out.
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4
Place the pattern tissue paper onto the skirt fabric and pin it in place. Cut out the number of gores needed to accommodate your skirt.
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5
Pin the gores together with the right sides together and sew them together using 1/4 inch seams. When all the panels are sewn together correctly, pin the waistband to the gored skirt, keeping right sides together. Sew the seam accordingly and remove the pins.
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Tips & Warnings
If you have never gored a skirt before, attempt the task on an unimportant piece of clothing first to ensure that you like the look of the final product.
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
