Hi, I am a beginner here and never worked with any pattern design software before and would like to design a pattern for this simple skirt. (pattern only for the skirt without the ruffles).
I need it in several sizes, first small, medium and large and also for different persons with different measurements,
Who can show me step by step how to make it please? I also Need help by creating the measurement table.
I forgot so say: the skirt should have no darts for the material is elastic!
My Idea is to use three measurements: waist circunference, hip circunference and skirt lenght.
Something like this:
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Hi, @HeloCortes.
do you have instructions for drafting the skirt pattern manually? are you using any particular patternmaking system (by system, I do not mean anything on computer)
it is good to know where your starting point is before trying to help
Here is the pattern style I used for my wife. It is just rectangular panels based on the largest of the waist, high hip, and hip circumferences. Set your measurements, the ease, number of panels, and how high above or below the knee you want it. (I’m still new to this, so it may have errors.)
SimplePanelSkirt01.val (2.9 KB) SimpleSkirt01.vit (715 Bytes)
Several of us are in the middle of doing work to create tutorials. What you asked is so simple and basic that I will take time right now to create a simple tutorial for how to use TAPE and VALENTINA to implement the instructions posted by @bamba. Also, I want to direct you the https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC61WgbNdZ_wqxKf9PzJrjgA channel containing Valentina tutorial information.
so that you may see some of the video tutorials that already exist. Please check this forum again tomorrow and I will have posted a simple text based tutorial for the elastic waist skirt in valentina
In general, you are encouraged to pick a patternmaking system, buy a book, and learn to draft patterns. The valentina software is a tool and you can use it to do many things but it does not replace patternmaking knowledge. Your example (the skirt drawing) and the tutorial that bamba posted are simple enough that I believe it is a useful example.
It is unlikely that you will find anyone here who will create step by step instructions for every project that you may want to learn to do, but it takes some help to get started and I am more than happy to help.
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(FWIW, most libraries already have pattern-making books/DVD’s or will buy them if there is interest.)
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If you have instructions, and have specific questions for the step that you’re stuck on, then it will be a lot easier for the forum to help you.
And we do want to assist you. But please keep in mind that this is similar to you wanting to learn to use Photoshop, and you also ask questions about photography, where Patternmaking = Photography and Valentina = Photoshop
So this is why it’s important that you have patternmaking instructions in a book or PDF for the garment you want to make. So we’ll know how to help you!
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@HeloCortes I have not forgotten you. I am nearly done with a quick tutorial for your skirt of stretch fabric but I am experiencing no internet service due to a cut cable and weather. I can connect only with my smart phone for now. This will cause some delay, but please look again later today or tomorrow
Here is the first half of some instruction I promised for @HeloCortes for the imple skirt with the Valentina Tool
HeloCortes posted the picture that showed a simple skirt based on 3 measurements. These are WaistSize, HipSize, and SkirtLength. In addition there is the statement “I forgot so say: the skirt should have no darts for the material is elastic!”
I have chosen two references from online to describe the process.
Because the fabric is stretchy, you need to determine the stretch percentage. Instructions to do this can be found at http://imaginegnats.com/lets-sew-knits-measure-stretch-percentage/
The next reference is the instructions on a blog at
which describes the process to make the skirt from stretch knit fabric.
I will not attempt to duplicate those tutorials here. What I will do is provide instructions on how to use the Valentina and TAPE tools to create the skirt.
STEP 1 write down your measurements. The TAPE program supports many “known measurement”, which represent the distance between body points described in many different pattern making systems and illustrated in drawings available in the program. Instead of specifying the skirt length, we will measure the height of the knee from the floor and measure the height of the waist from the floor. These are easier to measure on oneself using a yardstick or rigid tape measure. For this example, I will define two imaginary people “Jane” and “Mary” the three sizes S M and L with the following measurements:
STEP 2 This step is important because it will allow you to make a skirt to fit multiple size persons. Start the TAPE program. Depending on your type of computer, you might need to go to the program menu or click on the TAPE Icon on your desktop. You might also start the valentina program, click “measurements” at the top of the window, and click “Open Tape” from the drop down menu. Create the measurements for each entry in the above size table. I have provided an example here of the finished file for “Jane’s” measurements. jane.vit (759 Bytes)
I have created a file called jane.vit and show here two screenshots as I add the final measurement, which is the valentina known measurement of “A19. height_waist_side_to_knee”
I am giving steps to do this by creating a separate individual measurement file for each size. (There are other ways to do this and I will direct you to
if you want to read more about how to set up a multisize file, be aware that there may be some inconsistency in the descriptions from these sources because the multisize function and the template function are under revision. The Ebook is the most current.)
My next post will discuss the use of Valentina to create a single pattern that will be automatically resized for each measurement set
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You can watch my video, that is in Italian but with English subtitles. I created in this video a base skirt, and yours is a skirt with a transformation, and so you have to know something about patternmaking. But essentially the method is quite the same, and you can create many Tape files with different measures.
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