Make Your Own Skirt Template

Noreen Crone-Findlay

Our easy, step-by-step instructions show you how to use your favorite purchased skirt or pattern as a template to make a sensational crochet version.

There are so many benefits to working with crochet! There’s the sheer pleasure of crocheting and the delight of unlimited creative possibilities. Crocheting your skirt will allow you to actually “build” the fabric of the skirt. You can choose any yarn or combination of yarns that appeals to you, in any weight, thickness, color or texture. Then, you can add texture and visual complexity to those yarns by choosing stitches and patterning. You can create a skirt that is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece!

There is no limit to the ways that you can combine yarn and stitches in the creation of your totally unique garment, but you do have to consider a few things.
Crocheted fabric can be very mobile and can behave in erratic and unexpected ways if you haven’t done your homework. You will need to do some exploration before you embark on the construction of your crocheted skirt.

What do you need?
You’ll need to have a skirt that fits you comfortably. The skirt in our project was made with Butterick 3972 (see photo 1, at left), and is used for this project with permission. If you are not a sewer, you can use this technique by working with a purchased skirt.

You will also need:
Crochet hooks, yarn, scissors, a tape measure, safety pins, tapestry needle, a notebook and pen or pencil, a straightedge and elastic for the waistband of the skirt. For beginners, choose a pattern or skirt that doesn’t need buttons or zippers.

Where to begin?
Start with a swatch, using the hook size and number of rows and kind of stitches that the yarn label recommends. Measure your swatch. Make notes recording the hook size, number of rows, number of stitches, kinds of stitches and finished dimensions.
Pull at your swatch in several different directions:

• How flexible is the swatch? What kind of memory does it have? Does it return to its original dimensions and shape quickly, or does it distort?
• Which way does it drape best? For example, would it be better to work the rows of crochet across the skirt, from side to side, or from top to bottom?
• Does it feel too stiff? (You’ll need to switch to a larger hook.)
• Does it look too holey? (You’ll need to switch to a smaller hook.)
• How will the structure of the crochet work visually in the different sections of the skirt? For the skirt in our project, Tunisian crochet was chosen because of the strong line and element and for the close, dense stitches. Also, the area across the tummy was worked with the “wrong” side of the fabric on the outside so that the vertical lines were emphasized, rather than the horizontal ones.

Now, make more swatches with different-size crochet hooks and different stitches.
Measure the swatches and write down all the information. What stitch did you use? What size hook? How many stitches? How many rows? What size did your swatch turn out to be? Test these swatches the way you did your first one. Did you want to work some stitch patterning into your skirt? The swatch will give you all kinds of valuable information.

Some stitch patterns work better with some kinds of yarn than others. Working a small swatch is going to show you fairly quickly which stitch combinations and patterns will work for your skirt and which ones are better used elsewhere!

Are you happy with the look and feel of your swatch? If you have purchased enough yarn to save your swatches, then you might want to try washing one according to the directions on the label. It’s a great idea to abuse your swatch heartlessly so that you know your skirt is going to stand up to years of use.

How did it stand up to laundering? Did it shrink, pull off in wild directions, fade or behave in other unacceptable and lamentable manners? If it came out of the wash and was able to be encouraged into the same dimensions as when it went into the wash then that’s good. If it didn’t distort, shrink, stretch or otherwise misbehave, then you’ve got a winner.
           
More food for thought:
How are you going to put your skirt together?  Stitch it? Crochet it?

Are you going to make the seams into decorative accents? If so, you could choose a contrasting color of yarn. Or you could add texture at the seams with scallops or shells or fringe.

Do you want to have open lacy sections in your skirt? If so, are you planning on wearing an underskirt or slip? Would that work in a contrasting color?

What about the hem? Do you want it to be a straightedge or scalloped, fringed, beaded, filet, flowered, zigzagged?  With the wonders of your crochet hook, you can create any hem you want!
           
The nitty-gritty:
You’ll be working with templates. What’s a template?

It’s a piece of paper or fabric that is the exact shape of the finished piece that you want to make. Your skirt can be your template if you wish.

If you are working with a sewing pattern, you can either cut fabric or sturdy paper pieces out, following the pattern, or you can use the tissue paper pattern itself.

Remember to draw the seam allowance (5/8-inch) around each edge and trim it off. You are going to be butting the edges of each section of the skirt up against the others, so you don’t need to crochet overlapping seam allowances.

Cut one template for each section of the skirt. Remember that the front and back may be reversed by the type of stitch patterning that you use, so you may wish to cut separate templates.

It is also possible to simply use the front and back of the same template for front and back sections of the skirt.

Label your templates with important information, such as where the template fits into the skirt, the lines that indicate crosswise, lengthwise or bias grain of the fabric, which edge connects to what edge on other pattern pieces, and anything else that seems relevant.
If you don’t like the “piecemeal approach,” or are working from a purchased skirt that is already sewn together, not to worry. It will work great as your template. One advantage to working with a pre-made skirt is that you can more accurately adjust the crocheted skirt to the “fit” of the template skirt. For example, by shaping the crocheted pieces over gathers at the waistline, you can reduce bulk. (This is a good thing over most tummies!)  Just be very careful to keep smoothing out the skirt to its full measurements, as there is a tendency for a pre-made garment to pull in while being used as a template.

The skirt in the photos was made over an already constructed skirt.
           
Covering your template with crochet:
Note: It is easiest to work at a table, with the skirt laid out in front of you.

You may need to adjust the height of the chair you are working at to avoid muscle strain while crocheting.

Always work from the widest point of the section to the narrowest. You will decide the length of the starting chain by measuring the section of the skirt that you want as the beginning point (see photo 2, at right). Calculate (using your favorite swatch) how many stitches you’ll need per inch and chain that number plus one (or however many chain stitches you need as your turning chain). You do need to make your calculations based on your swatch! Your chain is not going to be the same length as the template!

You will build the crocheted piece up row by row, shaping it by increasing and decreasing stitches. Or, you can make many smaller elements and attach them to each other by stitching or crocheting them together to end up with a piece that fits the template exactly.          
You will “grow” your crocheted skirt by pinning it to the original skirt or the template as you work it. Lay down the crocheted piece and smooth it over the template or skirt after each row. This will tell you when you need to increase, decrease or work other shaping such as short “flaring” rows.  As the crocheted piece gets larger, pinning the sections to the template skirt will ensure that you are working to the full dimensions of the skirt (see photo 3, at left).

The crocheted piece will sometimes pull in somewhat after resting for awhile if you have set it aside overnight. Release the pins, and re-pin the skirt; add more rows if you need to.

The skirt in the photos was made by picking up stitches along an edge of a finished section. The picked-up stitches then became the first row of the next section (see photo 4, at right).

One side of the skirt was worked, and then the skirt was turned over and the second side was worked by picking up the stitches along the wide end of the top section of the skirt.

The second side was worked in the same order as the first one, and the ends of the rows were joined to adjoining edges on the first side as each section was worked.

If you prefer, you can work each section individually and wait until the skirt is completed to join them. If this is your choice, then it’s a good idea to pin your finished crocheted sections to the skirt or the individual templates as they are completed; this will help to avoid errors such as repeated sections or lost pieces. (Use large safety pins.) If you don’t want to pin them to the skirt, then label them clearly.

Crocheting a skirt using this template technique is a fun way to create a truly unique garment that you will treasure for years!