<p>I have experience sewing historical garments (which sometimes alter the bodie's silhouette dramatically), but I don't use commercial patterns. And I think making your own simple cone shape pattern should be easy enough to do.</p>
<p>If you don't want that, search for &quot;empire dress pattern&quot;. This is a historical style where the waist line is at the underbust, but it requires drapey, flowy fabric, so the result does not look like a traffic cone at all.</p>
<p><strong>The skirt pattern</strong></p>
<p>First measure your underbust circumference (the full length, not just half). Then try determining the hem circumference. You can lay the measuring tape in a circle on the ground for that. Then measure from your underbust point to the outer circumference of your hem and substract from that measurement how much above the ground the skirt should end. If you measure straight down your petticoat will be shorter than expected.</p>
<p>I suggest putting your measurements into a simple (online) math calculator to get the area of your cone. In technical terms this will be a &quot;cone stump&quot;. I think there are also &quot;circle skirt calculators&quot; available that basically do the same. You'll need to cut this cone wall into strips and fit them (including seam allowance) onto the fabric. For me this is always the tricky part. You could divide the hem circumference by the fabric width to see how many pieces you need minimum. Multiplying the number of skirt pieces by the hem length tells you how much fabric you need.</p>
<p><strong>Additional pattern pieces</strong></p>
<p>You'll need shoulder straps or a bodice! Your rib cage needs to move with each breath you take, so you cannot &quot;hang&quot; a dress from your underbust point. You can decide if you want a waist band (or underbust band ;) ), but skirts without one tend to stretch at the waist line. Having pockets in skirts is all the rage right now, so you could add some, too.</p>
<p>All of these pieces are small enough that you don't need to buy extra fabric for them.</p>
<p><strong>The fabric</strong></p>
<p>For the fabric you want something stiff without any drape. My first thought was upholstery fabric, but that will be heavy and you might not find the color you want. You could apply very stiff iron-on interfacing to all skirt panels to really make them stand. If this is for a costume you'll wear only once, you can starch the finished skirt (if you use thick starch, your skirt will stand on it's own, but rain or heavy air moisture will soften the starch again).</p>
<p>There's also the option to wear an under-petticoat that was stiffened with white glue and allowed to dry in a cone shape. You'll have to sew 2 garments for this option, but it gives you more freedom for the outer fabric, because it doesn't need to be stiff.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-07T15:29:14.553Z
2024-10-07T18:40:49.120Z
2024-10-07T18:40:49.120Z
Elmy
<p>I'm looking for a full-body petticoat sewing pattern. I own a few A-line maxi dresses and would like to make a petticoat (or petticoat-like garment) that extends from the bust area to the ankle. Ideally, it should add floof to the silhouette. I <em>want</em> to look like a giant cone.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if a sewing pattern for this type of garment exists?<br />
If not, is there a dress pattern that could be easily modified to achieve this effect?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-04T09:03:20.680Z
English isn’t my first language, so please let me know if there are better technical terms to use
Toasted Tart
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-04T11:51:37.787Z
Hi Toasted Tart, welcome to Arts & Crafts! Just so you know, asking for resources ("where can I find _x_?") is off-topic here (and everywhere on the Stack Exchange platform), but the rest of your questions seem on-topic here. Do you already have a dress pattern or other starting point?
Joachim
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-10-04T12:22:04.040Z
@Joachim Hi! No I don't have any starting point, only an idea. I can't find a sewing pattern that look like it, I'm not sure if it's a problem of lack of technical vocabulary or if this just doesn't exist
Toasted Tart
<sewing><pattern-drafting>
Full-body petticoat sewing pattern?
Toasted Tart
# Full-body petticoat sewing pattern?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-10-04)

I'm looking for a full-body petticoat sewing pattern. I own a few A-line maxi dresses and would like to make a petticoat (or petticoat-like garment) that extends from the bust area to the ankle. Ideally, it should add floof to the silhouette. I *want* to look like a giant cone.

Does anyone know if a sewing pattern for this type of garment exists?  
If not, is there a dress pattern that could be easily modified to achieve this effect?

**Tags:** sewing, pattern-drafting

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: English isn’t my first language, so please let me know if there are better technical terms to use  
> **username_1**: Hi username_0, welcome to Arts & Crafts! Just so you know, asking for resources ("where can I find _x_?") is off-topic here (and everywhere on the Stack Exchange platform), but the rest of your questions seem on-topic here. Do you already have a dress pattern or other starting point?  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Hi! No I don't have any starting point, only an idea. I can't find a sewing pattern that look like it, I'm not sure if it's a problem of lack of technical vocabulary or if this just doesn't exist  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2024-10-07. Score: 2

I have experience sewing historical garments (which sometimes alter the bodie's silhouette dramatically), but I don't use commercial patterns. And I think making your own simple cone shape pattern should be easy enough to do.

If you don't want that, search for "empire dress pattern". This is a historical style where the waist line is at the underbust, but it requires drapey, flowy fabric, so the result does not look like a traffic cone at all.

**The skirt pattern**

First measure your underbust circumference (the full length, not just half). Then try determining the hem circumference. You can lay the measuring tape in a circle on the ground for that. Then measure from your underbust point to the outer circumference of your hem and substract from that measurement how much above the ground the skirt should end. If you measure straight down your petticoat will be shorter than expected.

I suggest putting your measurements into a simple (online) math calculator to get the area of your cone. In technical terms this will be a "cone stump". I think there are also "circle skirt calculators" available that basically do the same. You'll need to cut this cone wall into strips and fit them (including seam allowance) onto the fabric. For me this is always the tricky part. You could divide the hem circumference by the fabric width to see how many pieces you need minimum. Multiplying the number of skirt pieces by the hem length tells you how much fabric you need.

**Additional pattern pieces**

You'll need shoulder straps or a bodice! Your rib cage needs to move with each breath you take, so you cannot "hang" a dress from your underbust point. You can decide if you want a waist band (or underbust band ;) ), but skirts without one tend to stretch at the waist line. Having pockets in skirts is all the rage right now, so you could add some, too.

All of these pieces are small enough that you don't need to buy extra fabric for them.

**The fabric**

For the fabric you want something stiff without any drape. My first thought was upholstery fabric, but that will be heavy and you might not find the color you want. You could apply very stiff iron-on interfacing to all skirt panels to really make them stand. If this is for a costume you'll wear only once, you can starch the finished skirt (if you use thick starch, your skirt will stand on it's own, but rain or heavy air moisture will soften the starch again).

There's also the option to wear an under-petticoat that was stiffened with white glue and allowed to dry in a cone shape. You'll have to sew 2 garments for this option, but it gives you more freedom for the outer fabric, because it doesn't need to be stiff.


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