Why Google is my friend ...

I have cut the HP pattern out for the basis of the skirt for The Challenge. I have decided to eliminate the existing waistband and go for a faced waist instead. I am going to add a circular ruffle and place the side panels on the bias. Since I am going for the solid green wool that means I don't have to worry about any pattern matching. I am also adding a circular ruffle to the hemline. The third element is still a mystery. There already is a box pleat in the back of the skirt, but since I am adding the ruffle, I am going to leave that out.

There was a little stall in my process, however, in that I had no source material in my reference collection (limited as it is) to calculate how many circles I would need for this skirt. The instructions in Armstrong deal with how to make a circle, half or quarter circle skirt, but not what I wanted (if I am worng somebody PLEASE tell me what page to use ... I have the latest edition!). Diva Els refers to Roberta Carr's book Couture: The Art of Fine Sewing, which I don't have (insert a not nice word here!) and the library does not have it either (I love online library catalogues!). So, I have e-mailed two local PR members to see if either of them have it for me to borrow. Not wanting to stop my efforts on this skirt so soon, I turned to Google and took a wild guess.

I typed in "drafting circular ruffles" and found not only El's post over at The Sewing Divas, but also this lovely site that actually has a calculator that does all the math for you and actually tells you how many circles you need and how big to make them and how much fabric you will need to cut them! How easy is that?! I LOVE IT ... but I am still going to hunt down that book and buy it for myself for my birthday! The tradition continues ... a new sewing book each year!