If you are looking for a tiered skirt for tribal or gypsy dance, you have many, many options on the market today. There are tons of importers who sell skirts made in India or other eastern countries. There are also costumers who, like myself, sew their own merchandise and offer tiered skirts of cotton, silk, and velvet.

Each option for buying gypsy skirts has its pro's and con's. If you buy from a seamstress, usually the skirt is only 10 yards at the hem. This isn't quite full enough to actually whirl and twirl it. Also, the skirt is usually made of plain cotton, which isn't quite as floaty as cotton gauze. A couple of the other seamstresses out there do sell full gypsy skirts (which to me means AT LEAST 17 yards at the hem) but to buy that much fabric sewn in the USA, you will pay for it.

My sister and I have never had the cash to pay for a handmade skirt, and I've never had the patience (or the ruffler sewing machine attachment) to try to make one myself. We have, however, ordered quite a few from various importers over the years. Sometimes we would get lucky, but many times we've been disappointed with the quality of the skirts. My sister in particular spent about $90 including shipping for a 17 yard skirt that she has not yet been able to wear due to poor quality workmanship.

The problem with the skirts that are mass produced in other countries is just that - they're mass produced! There are two issues with getting a gypsy skirt to fit just so and look beautiful.

1 - Fabric stretches. The skirts are all made at a length of 36", but over time, the cotton they are made of will sometimes stretch up to a 40" length.

2 - Cutting an even circle in woven fabric results in an uneven hemline. The top tier of gypsy skirts is cut as a circle so there isn't as much bulky fabric at the waistband. To understand how this makes an uneven hemline, take a cotton pillowcase and see which direction the threads run. Try stretching along the horizontal and vertical. Absolutely no stretch, right? Now try stretching along the diagonals. There should be a bit of stretch, more if your pillowcase is made of thinner more loosely woven fabric. Gypsy skirts are made of cotton gauze, a very thin, very loosely woven fabric. Thin fabric is desirable so your gypsy skirt doesn't weigh 40 pounds (18 yards at the hem, remember?) and loosely woven is desirable so the fabric lets through a bit of air on those hot ren. fest. days. So for some of that circle the threads run horizontal and vertical and there is no stretch. And for more of that circle the threads run diagonally and there is lots of stretch! Result: uneven hemline. My sister's skirt had a difference of 12 inches in some parts of the hemline.

I put each of my skirts through a rigorous process to insure they meet my standards of perfection.

First, I pin them to a wire hanger in my closet and let them hang for 2 weeks or longer.

Next, after I have received an order, I figure out how much I will need to remove to resize the skirt to your custom length and mark an even (horizontally even that is!) line along the bottom of the top tier.

I separate the bottom three tiers from the top tier and sew them together again at the new line and length.

Result: An 18 yard gypsy skirt, pre-stretched, the perfect length for you with a perfectly even hem! And since most of the tedious sewing is done by someone else overseas, the price is surprisingly easy on the pocketbook!