A shredded skirt is a fantastic look if you want a lot of movement. It creates a great deal of interest and brings the eye down to your legs. This is a fun, fun skirt to make and to wear when danceing.
Supplies:
- Skirt, second skirt optional
- Scissors
Directions:
- Choosing Your Materials
There are four main things to consider when you choose a skirt to “shred.” You need to choose the type of skirt, the material the skirt is made of, the color of the skirt and whether you want to wear the skirt solo or layer it with a second skirt. These four items are important to consider if you want a dance costume that attracts attention and is relevant to your dance.
For our demonstration, we are using a velvet circle skirt. The skirt you choose does not have to be velvet nor does it need to be a circle skirt. We chose velvet for two reasons – we like the feel of velvet and the fact that the back of the material is different so it appears like there are two different materials being used. The important thing to remember is that the material needs to be Lycra, mesh or some other material that will not fray. We chose a circle skirt because a circle skirt has more movement. However, an A-line or straight skirt may work best for your concept.
The color you choose will depend on your personal preferences and what mood you are trying to set for your dance. If you want your skirt to have a woodsy feel, you would probably use green and brown. For an ocean feel, you would probably use blue and teal or turquoise. If you just want a saucy look, you would probably want to use bright colors.
- Create a Shredded Skirt
We are going to show you how to take a simple circle skirt and turn it into a shredded skirt. You can, however, use other skirt shapes.
Fold the skirt in half and lay it flat on the table. Spread the skirt out so that it is even on the right and the left and does not overlap itself.
Starting on the one side of the skirt, cut a strip from the hem of the skirt to the waist of the skirt cutting through both layers of the skirt at the same time. Cut the strip in a choppy, wavy line, not in a straight line. Then, continue to cut the skirt in strips from the hem to the waist until the skirt is nothing but strips. The strips should not all be the same size or they will look like they were cut from a pattern. You will notice that the strips are quite a bit wider at the bottom than at the top but that is because it is a circle skirt. If you use a straight skirt, the strips will be about the same width from top to bottom. It is important to check to be sure that there is nothing underneath the fabric while you are cutting. If material or previously cut strips end up under the material you are cutting, most likely you will end up with strips that are cut in half.
Once you have finished cutting the strips, put them in groups of two or three. Pick the strips from different parts of the skirt so the strips will not look the same as the one next to them. Just grab any two or three strips, lay them on top of each other and start cutting the sharp corners off the bottom of each group of strips giving the strips a lopsided, pointed tip. Then, give each group of strips a shredded appearance by making random, choppy, diagonal cuts into both sides of the strips from bottom to top. You want the strips to look free form and free flowing. You definitely do not want them to look symmetrical or look like they were cut from a pattern. To give you a real feel for the impact of the shredded skirt, we putting a pink skirt underneath.
There are three choices on how you wear your shredded skirt. You could wear the shredded skirt alone or you could put a solid contrasting or complementary skirt underneath. You also have the option of putting a second shredded skirt underneath. This gives your skirt more color and more movement when the dancer performs. This would double the movement when your dancer dances. If you use a second skirt, you should choose the color of the second skirt as mentioned above. How you choose to wear your shredded skirt depends on the look you are trying to achieve.
This shredded skirt is fun and very fast to produce and looks great.
