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Make a simple gathered skirt for hula – Pa’u skirt

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What is a pa’u skirt? In Hawai’i, hula dancers use pa’u skirts for practice and performance. It is often a simple cotton skirt with rows of gathering at the top. If you search online you will see many variations in directions, including open or closed, drawstring tie or elastic, rows of gathers, and type of fabric. I’m showing you how I made my latest pa’u skirt.How to make a simple gathered skirt. Use Hawaiian fabric to make a pa'u skirt for hula.

Supplies

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pau-skirt - 1You will need

Fabric, 4 yards of 45-inch wide

Thread

3/8 inch braided elastic, 3 – 6 yards

tape measure

scissors

seam ripper

Seams Great

Straight pins

Safety pins

Size 14 sewing machine needle

Instructions

  • Wash and dry the fabric and press if needed.
  • Lay out the fabric and decide which way the print should go on the skirt.
  • Sew the cut edges together with a 5/8 inch seam. It will look like a big tube.
  • Finish the seam if desired (zig zag, Seams Great, or serger.) Iron the seam open.
  • Make a double hem at the bottom. I turned up ½ inch, then folded another ½ inch. Stitch in a straight line.
  • At this point, the person who will wear the skirt should step into the tube. You need to decide where the hem of the skirt should be on the person. Some advise 8 inches from the floor (if you are making skirts for a whole group, choosing a number is a good idea so the skirts look consistent). Others choose the halfway point between the knee and the ankle.
  • Place the skirt where the hem should be and fold over the top of the fabric to be at the belly button. Mark this fold.
  • Fold the top of the fabric to the inside of the skirt. For my skirt, the length after folding was 32 inches.
  • Carefully pin the fold down so that the flat seam is lined up.pau-skirt - 6
  • Sew around the skirt with a straight stitch. The first row is 1 inch down from the fold. The next row is ¾ inch from the first. Then 1 inch down, ¾ inch down, 1 inch down, and ¾ inch down. The total section you have stitched should be six inches wide. Tip: I use washi tape to mark on the sewing machine where the edge of the fabric should be. You could use an erasable sewing marking pen to draw where the lines go.pau-skirt - 3pau-skirt - 2
  • Use a seam ripper to open the side seam on the inside of the three ¾ inch casings. This is to give you an opening for the elastics.pau-skirt - 9
  • Cut the elastic. To make it easier for myself, I used 3 2-yard lengths of elastic, but this does waste elastic. I actually think it would be even easier if each length was 4 yards, same as the skirt! To measure more precisely, you need an unstretched length that is your widest hip measurement plus 12 inches.
  • Firmly pin a safety pin on one end of the elastic. Insert into the casing and push through to the other side. Repeat for the other two casings.
  • Pull the elastics to even out the gathers and make the top of the skirt about hip size.
  • Try the skirt on inside out. The top of the skirt should be at the belly button for hula. Adjust the elastics to fit. Tie into overhand knots. Cut excess, leaving a few extra inches. You may need to adjust the skirt after wearing it a few times.How to make a simple gathered skirt. Use Hawaiian fabric to make a pa'u skirt for hula.

Tips: A smaller person might look fine with 3 yards of fabric. Measure from the belly button down to the top of the hip. I made this “waistband” six inches wide. You might want a 4th row of elastic if you are long here. You might want to put the rows of elastic side-by-side on a shorter person.  

Resource links

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Border print dress – using a pareu

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A border print gives a dress an extra bit of eye-catching interest. I think an outfit is more memorable with a border print and I like the challenge of making the fabric work with the finished product!A border print dress is a unique outfit that can be made with a pareu. Tips include cutting layout and bias trim armholes.

We were visiting Hilo and I wanted to visit the shop of Sig Zane, the famous graphic artist and designer of Hawaii. It was right after the Merrie Monarch competition, so the store had very limited stock – no dresses in my size! I found a table of pareus and decided I could try to make this into a dress. A pareu is Pacific style apparel, a long rectangle of fabric that is wrapped around as a skirt or dress.pareu-dress-pareu

Cutting and sewing with a unique design takes some thought because you won’t be able to follow the pattern directions. Often you will have switch the grain line in the pattern pieces from along the selvage to perpendicular. You will line up the front and back pieces so that the border falls along the hem of the dress.pareu-dress-1

Supplies for border print dress

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You will need a pattern with straight side seams, a pareu or border print fabric, thread, and coordinating buttons if desired.pareu-dress-pattern

Instructions for border print dress

  • Wash and dry the fabric and press if needed.
  • Lay out the fabric and place the front and back pattern pieces to see how the print will work with the hem. If you have trouble visualizing, you may want to trace the pattern onto tracing paper to eliminate cutting on the fold. You would make one piece for the front and one for the back. There may be other pieces you need as whole pieces, too, such as the yoke. Check that the design of the fabric is falling on the front in a good way. Also, make a plan for your hem at this point. My pareu was hemmed, so I planned to use that as the dress hem.pareu-dress-pinned
  • Pin the pattern to the fabric and cut. Be sure the grain arrows are lined up (even though they may be perpendicular.) (In my case, I did not have enough fabric for the yoke and pockets after cutting out the front and back. I pieced together scraps, watching the bias grainlines, to make the yoke and bias armhole. I found a coordinating fabric to make the pockets, which don’t show.) Cut all remaining pieces from the top edge of the fabric if possible.
  • Finish the seams if desired (zig zag, Seams Great, or serger.)
  • Sew the pocket pieces to the fronts and backs.pareu-dress-pocket
  • Sew the front and back together and press seams open. At the top edge of the pocket, make a right angle turn. At the bottom edge, make a deep V-shape, with 3 stitches forming the point of the V.
  • For my pattern, I basted the pleats for the center front.pareu-dress-pleat
  • I ironed the 2-inch-wide bias strip for the armhole in half lengthwise, wrong sides together. I sewed the strip to the armhole on the front side. I folded and pressed the strip to the inside of the dress and topstitched in place.
  • I assembled the yoke. I sewed the front bottom of the yoke to the front and back of the dress.pareu-dress-yoke
  • I used the iron to press down the bottom seam allowance on the back yoke piece. I pinned through the front of the yoke to catch the unattached seam allowance on the inner yoke. I topstitched the yoke, making sure to catch the inner yoke pieces.
  • To finish, I sewed on 4 decorative buttons along the yoke.pareu-dress-buttons

Resource links for border print dress

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A border print dress is a unique outfit that can be made with a pareu. Tips include cutting layout and bias trim armholes.This print is ginger or ‘ōpuhi, It grows wild in Hawaii and is popular with hikers. When you reach a pool at the bottom of a waterfall, you can use the flower to wash yourself!horizontal bar with plumeria