Recently I splurged and bought some beautiful linen fabric to make myself some new clothes! The first item I have finished sewing is a lovely half circle skirt with a ruffle, an adjustable waist, and pockets!

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I have been needing to upgrade my wardrobe for a while now. My closet has become a collection of many items thatdon’t fit well, do’t match each other, or are getting worn out. I only have a few favorite pieces that I wear often.
I used to do quite a bit of sewing for myself but in recent years I have mostly sewn small toys and clothes for my girls.
Clothing Inspiration
So I decided to buy some fabric and and make myself some clothes. I decided to go with linen fabric because it is natural and has a lovely texture. I have been inspired by several beautiful linen dressmakers on Instagram for awhile now. Some of the skirts and dresses from Little Women Atelier are my favorites. But I wanted something just a little simpler and more practical.
Choosing Linen Fabric
Once I ordered my linen from Pure Linen Envy I started looking for patterns. I bought 3 colors of linen- 1 yard of dusty pink, 2 yards of dusty blue, and 3 yards of chocolate brown. I planned to make a blouse, a summer skirt, and a fall skirt.
I am hoping to draft my own pattern for the blouse. I have never done that befor but I am learning a lot from Katherine Sewing and purchased this book she recomends about it. It is out of print, but I was able to find a reasonbly priced used copy.
Finding a Half Circle Skirt Sewing Pattern
I decided to start with the blue linen for a summer skirt. There were a few thing I was looking for in a skirt pattern. I wanted a fitted looking waist band but also wanted it to be adjustable, I wanted pockets, and I wanted a very feminine, cottagecore kind of look.
After doing quite a bit of looking I found the perfect pattern. The Coquelicot Skirt with a ruffle hem from Wildflower Designs. It is a circle or half circle skirt with large pockets inside the split sides and an adjustable waist. I chose to sew Veiw A with the half circle skirt and the easier D ring waist band.
The Mock Up
Since I have never made a skirt quite like this I wanted to make a mock up first to test the pattern and be sure I had the sizing right before cutting into the expensive linen. I also discovered that I didn’t have quite enough fabric for the pattern, so I wanted to experiment with a precise layout. I found a sheet at the thrift store to use as the mock up fabric. I choose a sheet that was pretty so that I would have a cute around the house skirt.
The mock up went well. I started by cutting the sheet down to the exact size of my linen fabric. I was able to get a layout that fit all the pieces by making the skirt a bit shorter. I am not very tall so it worked out!
I was happy with my pretty sheet skirt and now it was time to move on to the real thing.



Steps to Sewing the Half Circle Linen Skirt
The first step was to lay out my pattern pieces exactly the same as when I did the mock up and then cut out the fabric.
Following the Pattern
The pattern is basically put together in two parts. First by sewing the back waistband, pockets, and back skirt pieces together to form the back part of the skirt. And then the front waistband, ties, and front skirt pieces to make the front section of the skirt.
Once those two parts were finished I sewed them together at the sides to create the full skirt. A hem or a ruffle is the final step.
Adaptions for Sewing the Half Circle Skirt
I mostly followed the pattern exactly as written with only a few minor adaptions. In order to make it work with a bit less fabric and still be able to have the ruffle I cut the pattern down as short as would possibly work. I also added the ruffle which is not in the pattern but there are instructions on the pattern site.



I also didn’t have quite enough fabric for the bias tape for the pockets, so I used a pretty floral fabric that I had leftover from another project.



Because I used a nice linen for this skirt and I want it to last a long time, I very carefully finished all the seams. There are no raw edges inside. This took a fair bit of time as most seams had to be done twice. This is the most particular I have ever been with a sewing project, but I am very pleased with the way it turned out.
I used french seams for the front and back center seams as well as when adding the ruffle. French seams are created by sticthing a small seam with the wrong sides of the fabric together then turning and stiching again with the right sides together. This leave a fully inclosed seam on the inside of the garment. It was a bit tricky to do this with the gathered ruffle seam but I was careful and went slowly.
The side seam is actually the skirt front overlapped on the skirt back and then overstitched. To make this fully finished, the side edges of the skirt front are hemmed toward the the back(the pattern instuctions include this step.). I also hemmed the skirt back sides toward the front, so that when the two parts are stitched together there are no raw edges inside or out.





Would I Make this Pattern Again?
Yes! I love the way this skirt turned out; the fit is wonderful, the style is darling, and the color is very versatile. I also love the weight and feel of the linen fabric and can’t wait to use the other colors.
This is a pattern I will be using again. I would love to get some plaid wool fabric for a warm winter skirt. I also love the waistband and the large pockets so much that I think I could adapt other skirt patterns to include those features!
If you are looking for a sewing pattern for a versatile, feminine half circle skirt I would reccomend the Coquelicot Skirt! I am not at all affiliated with this pattern, I just truly love it! Let me know in the comments if this is a skirt you would try.
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