waaaahhhhh! I wanna cry! I NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!

Ok, I've been working on this dress....it's kinda peasant style. I have a seperate part for the top, and the bottom is basically a skirt. This is where my problem comes in. I cut 2 isosceles trapezoid panles (sp?) , then sewed them together, and I got these 2 triangular "tails" hanging down where the seams are.......
I've used this method for making a skirt for a dress b4, but I cut 4 pannels, and is still made this weird, like, wide square thing when you opened it up.
I don't know what to do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I destroyed my fabric, and i'm trying to figure out how to fix this! How the heck to you make a long skirt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????????????

 

the easiest way to do it from scratch:

take the desired circumference of the top and divide by how many panels you need. (works from 1 to infinity )

take the desired circumference of the bottom and do the same.

find (or press) a central crease in your fabric and measure/cut across it to make sure you're all centered. (dont forget your seam allowances)

sew em up!

 

I'm pretty sure that's what i did.
I measured how big I wanted the waist, and how big I wanted the bottom.
I wanted to make 2 pannels, so I divided it by 2.
My top measurment for both pannels was 27'' and the bottom was 81''
I took the middle measurment for both, and i made sure both were centered.
I added another 1/2 '' for seam allowances on each side.
It looked like this /=\ but space out the middle part more, if you kinda know what i mean.
I sewed them 2gether, and i ended up having the corners where the seams are hanging down past the rest of the skirt.

 

what kind of fabric did you use?
your seams are sewn on the bias (on a diagonal against the grain)
fabric is stretchy on the bias...so your seams may be be hanging longer due to gravity, or because it was slightly stretched when you sewed it. ...or simply making a skirt with more gores (your skirt has 2 gores) might help.

 

you prolly need to fold it with the seams down the middle n trim the bottom hem straight..
so instead of both seams on the sides fold it the other way so the are in the middle n it will prolly come to a wierd tail/point like a v... ya just gotta cut those off the seams so its more rounded.. then put it the right way n it should hang right..
this is assuming i understand the problem..:O)
good luck!!

 

that happens to me pretty often, I still don't know why...

What I ussually do, is either have someone pin it flat on me, or I cut strips of fabric that are like an inch wide the whole way down, and stich them onto either side of each panel, so that they're the ones that end up binding the whole thing together, does that make sense? you end up with alot of seams that way though, so I like to just have someone pin it on me :0)

hope this helps, good luck!

 

i tried doing a few of those things, but in the end, i just ended up making more gores. easier that way......sadily, since i did that, i made all the new gores to measure what i needed one gore to b4....but at least i have enough fabric to add a couple more.
thanx for all your help!

 

this may have been the problem. the fabric isn't stretchy, but it's VERY heavy.

 

A lot of times the seams will stretch even if you're not on the bias. Just try to keep a light pressure on them so they won't stretch. Or you could turn it so the seams are down the front and back and have a cool v shaped hem.

Kathi

 

I thought about turning it so that there was pointy sides, but I want to sew a patchy bottom, and it woulda looked kinda funny. Still a cool idea, though.

 

well, I added some more gores and it has turned out awsome so far. I just have to put on that straps and I'm done. I should have some pics up in the next couple days! Thanx for your help again!