DIY Skirts ideas

When my teenage daughter told me she needed a poodle skirt for their 50s themed sock hop dance at school, I set off to look for patterns on how to help my daughter make her own poodle skirt.

There were several additional benefits to having her make the skirt herself. First she would get to do applied math, looking at calculating out the radius based on the circumference of a circle. She would (hopefully) have the satisfaction of making her own skirt and it would be way cheaper (pulling from my fabric stash) and better made than going out and buying a skirt.

The poodle skirt is just a basic circle skirt make from felt which has an applique poodle in the front. I realize it would be a pretty simple pattern for my daughter to make herself so we drafted our own DIY pattern.

What you see here is the research I did to figure out our own pattern, how you can make your own free pattern and the step by step process we when through to make a 50's style circle skirt, complete with making our own felt iron-on poodle applique. I've also included what I could find about the history of the poodle skirt, since I am not old enough to have ever worn one.

Ready to make your own poodle skirt?

50s Style Poodle Skirt available on Amazon

Materials Needed to Make a Poodle Skirt

I figured making a poodle skirt is pretty easy. I knew I just need a few basic materials (not counting the sewing supplies and sewing machine), most of which I already had in my sewing supplies:

Fabric - Felt or Fleece
Elastic
Poodle Applique or make one with a poodle graphic and felt
Ribbon and any embellishments
Iron-on stitch witchery