Edit: Due to the populatiy of these tutorials (who would have guessed?) I've changed the original format of them to a nice, shinier model~! Hope you enjoy the new interface!

Look, guys! I'm totally keeping my promise to make more tutorials! This is crazy-rad, man! I feel so inspired and proud! BOOHOO

This is the second tutorial in the series! And the quality of the photography is still so dodgy... That's okay, though, at east it's getting done. In this tutorial, we'll be learning how to make a very basic hoop skirt. All in all, it took me about five hours to complete... And I may or may not have been spending most of that time mucking around with my camera, trying to take impressive photos.



Anyway. Please look forward to more tutorials in the future! ^_^ If you have any questions, just ask me in the comments section, and I will endeavor to update the FAQ in my Artist's Comments as I go.


Tutorial & Photographs © Yiji 2011



FAQ's

Where did you buy your boning from?

I actually totally lucked out when I found it in a second-hand charity store as I was passing by to get groceries. But you should be able to find some at your sewing and craft store - though if they don't have a wide range or sewing materials, you could always try find something online.

Are you measuring the length of your hoopskirt with the idea of the hose inside will lift it? Such as I have a skirt that's about 38" long, so should the hoopskirt be 40"-45" long to make up the difference?

The length of the hoopskirt (from your waist or wherever it sits comfortably on you) to the ground, or wherever it needs to be, should ideally be measured on you while you're standing in your cosplay's designated shoes. The width of it (how wide you need to cut your fabric in total) depends on how wide your largest hoop has to be.

Keeping this in mind, I'd suggest experimenting with a plain tube around you first to see how bit you need to get the largest hoop, and measuring out the rectangle for it. In this same way, I would recommend drafting a pattern of your skirt first using calico or cheap drill, so that once you wear your hoop skirt and put the skirt over it, you can see how much the hoops will lift your dress, and you can add more fabric on the bottom to make it the proper length. (I sincerely hope I answered this question right...)

Would this method work for an odd shaped skirt such as this flower shaped skirt? [link]

Yes, absolutely! To me, it appears that it's a very slim A-Line hoop skirt, with decreasing widths in hoops towards the bottom. I'd suggest drafting a pattern of the skirt from cheap fabric to take in at the sides so that it fits more snugly around the hoops - if you don't tailor the skirt inwards, it won't do that shape on its own - the fabric will just fall into an A-Line.

What's a petticoat?

A petticoat is a light skirt layered in tulle or soft netting/fabric that is worn over the hoop skirt. The fabric of the tulle layers creates an extra bit of fluff so that it hides the sharp ridges of the boning in the skirt.

Petticoats can also be worn without a hoop skirt to give a regular skirt a fluffier shape, but to achieve the same large bell of a hoop skirt, you would have to wear lots of layers.

Could you do a hoop skirt with the bowing with an already made dress?

You mean make a hoopskirt for an already existing skirt?

Certainly. Just measure the circumference of the skirt and make sure your bottom hoop, the biggers one, is smaller to fit inside it.