Wonder Woman Skirt Part I

My version of the Wonder Woman skirt is designed to be practical and simple to wear.  The instructions are intended to help you create a custom fitted piece that you feel comfortable wearing while still maintaining the essence of the Amazon outfit.  Mine, for example, is a bit longer and more flattering for my body type than the one used in the movie because, let's face it, I'm no Gal Gadot.  Part I will focus entirely on the underskirt, which gives the final product its functionality and serves as a base for attaching the leather gladiator style design in Part II.

Materials used include fabric (I will further discuss sizing and material a little later), needle, thread, large button, measuring tape, fabric scissors, straight pins, and charcoal pencil for marking the fabric.  Not pictured: sewing machine, small amount of scrap material, and iron/ironing board for preparing the fabric for sewing.  Disclaimer:  This skirt is only my fifth project involving a sewing machine.  You might think you know a different technique or better way to do something-  you are probably right!  I am constantly learning and figuring out ways to improve.

To determine the fabric size needed, I tried on an existing skirt that fits well.  I selected one that does not have a low waist, as Wonder Woman's corset and skirt need to overlap a little bit to avoid a gap.   I measured the skirt at the top and then took a second measurement six inches lower.  Then I added a several inches to each measurement to allow for seams, overlap (the underskirt will button), and some extra space.  So, in my case, the two numbers I will be using for my fabric are 37" (34.5" top measurement plus 2.5" allowance) and 43" (40.5" bottom measurement plus 2.5" allowance.) 

Your fabric will need to be the length of your longer measurement with a width of about one foot.  Hence, my fabric needed to be at least 43" x 12".  The material I used was brown cloth (almost a faux suede) left over from a previous project; I would recommend using something fairly heavy and durable because you will be attaching heavy strips of leather to it later using an awl.  I started by cutting two pieces from my material: a 43" by 7" piece (43" is the longer measurement plus allowance and 7" is enough room for a 6" skirt with room for seams) and a 37" by 1.75" piece  (37" is my shorter measurement plus allowance and 1.75" is enough room for the waist band with room for seams.)  You can adjust accordingly if you want your underskirt to be a little longer or shorter.

First, I folded the bottom edge of the 43"x 7" piece under, as shown below, and sewed a 0.5" seam along the entire edge.  Along the top, I sewed tucks to shorten the top of the skirt to 37", the length of my shorter piece.  I found this tutorial helpful for the tucks. 

I laid the 37"x 1.75" strip face down on top of the back of the skirt, as shown below.  (You should not have the extra space at the very top; that is just for illustrative purposes so you can see how the pieces match up exactly along the length.)

I lined up all the edges, pinned the material, and sewed the pieces together using the sewing machine.

I made the top seam smaller than the 0.5" that I had originally penciled onto the back.  It was closer to a 0.25" seam.  Next, I folded the material up in the direction shown below and flipped the skirt to the front (brown) side.

On the front, I tucked the bottom of the 1.75" strip under and stitched it down, as shown below, to complete the waistband.

I cut two more pieces of fabric, approximately 2" x 6" to attach to the ends of the skirt.

I arranged the pieces as shown and first stitched each piece to the end of the skirt with the brown sides facing each other. 

Then I flipped the piece over and stitched the back.  No fancy tucking under here.

Amazon princesses probably need a place to keep their credit cards, right?  I decided to create a couple of pockets for my skirt, though later I only ended up using one of them on the skirt itself.  For the pockets, I used two 4"x 11" pieces of thin scrap material that I had used for skirt lining on a previous post.  You could use any extra pieces of material, but the less bulky, the better.

I folded the pieces in half and made double stitches on the bottom and both sides, leaving the top of the pockets open.  I turned one side of the open part down and pinned it.

Then I turned the pockets inside out and carefully stitched the pinned down side of the pocket only (you don't want to sew through both halves of material or you will sew the pocket shut.)  Below you can see the finished pockets.

The skirt is designed so that the button falls on the right front of the final piece, similar to how the skirt is positioned on the dress form below.  With this in mind, I only ended up having room to comfortably fit one pocket, which I positioned inside the skirt on the left front, opposite of the button. 

I aligned the longer part of the pocket with the seam and stitched across several times, as shown below.   The pocket is hidden and discreet but large enough for a credit card, ID, or cash.  

Lastly, I used my sewing machine's instruction book and rudimentary button hole sewing skills from the last skirt I made to sew a button hole (and button) to fasten the skirt.  This will actually be the primary means of fastening the final skirt, so I recommend a sturdy, decent sized button.

 

This is the completed underskirt.  It will not show at all on the final Wonder Woman skirt, but is an essential foundation for the gladiator style finish, which I will assemble in Part II.