Metallic Gold Skirt DIY with Cricut

DIY, Sewing, Tutorial

This post may include affiliate links. See my full disclosure here.

Looking for a show-stopper of a holiday party outfit?
Use your Cricut machine to create a one-of-a-kind skirt worthy of any soiree!

I am getting JAZZED, people!  Thanksgiving is tomorrow and we are almost ready to deck the halls (I know some of you already jumped the gun…that’s OK.  Christmas is my jam too) and dress in your finest finery for all the holiday parties!  Yay!

In reality, I’m a stay-at-home mom who only ever gets to dress fancy for her husband’s work party, but you better believe I’m the most over-dressed person there. This year I really, REALLY wanted to use my new Cricut Maker machine to create something pretty and sparkly to wear and this skirt fit the bill.



Gold is everywhere this season in fashion and we’ve been seeing lots of laser cut apparel and accessories as well.  Just check out this google search of laser cut dresses and let me know what you think.  Aren’t some of them just gorgeous?  When the Cricut Maker came out, I  immediately started brainstorming similar types of projects: creating my own cut outs in a custom-made garment.  I’m just giddy that this sort of creation is now possible for us home sewists!

If you’re interested in using fancy fabrics with your Cricut Maker, here are a few things to note:

  1. The rotary blade (unique blade to the Maker machine) slices through hundreds of types of fabric, including brocade, lame, satin and chiffon.  But if you want to make cutouts like these, you’ll need to choose a fabric that doesn’t fray.  There were quite a few metallic options at my local fabric store and the hardest part was choosing!
  2. Test, test, test!!  I ran this fabric through 4-5 small test cuts and then 2 larger tests before I was happy with the performance of the cuts and the final product.  Especially when working with high end, expensive special occasion fabrics, don’t take anything for granted!
  3. The sewing projects on Cricut’s design space are intended to be cut with the fabric right side down, but when making your own fabric-based project, you might want to try it flipped to see what works best.  My Maker machine worked beautifully with this gold right side down (it also kept my mat a lot cleaner than when I tested it with the gray backing side down and those fibers made a mess all over my new mat!).
  4. You need to get a little creative in order to fit apparel pattern pieces on the cutting machine mat.  Cricut has a 24″ long fabric mat (which is what I used for this project) but it’s still only 12″ wide.  In order to make this skirt, I had to find a pattern with pieces narrower than 12″ wide.  You could also get away with making a dress if the bodice also had princess seams or other small-ish pieces.

Ready to make one yourself?  Here’s what you’ll need!

• A sewing pattern with pieces small enough to fit on a 12″ x 24″ mat (I used the skirt portion of Simplicity 8292)
• Appropriate yardage of special occasion fabric that doesn’t fray (think knits and metallics!  I love scuba knit for cutouts)
• Appropriate yardage of lining fabric, if needed
• 12″x24″ fabric mat
Cricut Maker and rotary blade (you can also cut some fabrics with the Explore machines, they just need to have a backing attached)
• Coordinating thread and notions


    1.  Pull up an image in Design Space and customize it to your liking.  I spent (way) too much time perusing Design Space looking for the perfect image for this project and I settled on this Cheetah Print pattern.  While I loved how busy it was, when I tested it out on my fabric, the large number of cuts really compromised the integrity of my fabric and I was nervous that it wouldn’t hold up over time so I deselected about half of the cuts and made it a lot less busy-looking.  You can do this by selecting the image in your canvas, then clicking “Contour” in the bottom right hand menu.  Then deselect whichever portions of the image you don’t want to cut![spacer height=”20px”]Here’s the link to my saved projects so you can see what mine looked like before cutting.
    2. Cut out your pattern pieces according to the pattern instructions, ensuring that they will fit on the fabric mat.  While it’s ok for the fabric to extend off the top and bottom of the mat (i.e. be longer than the mat) it can’t extend off the side (i.e. be wider than the mat) because it will get caught in the roller mechanism!  You can always add extra seams to your project by cutting a pattern piece in half (or thirds, etc) and adding seam allowances to both pieces.[spacer height=”20px”]
    3. Test cut a portion of your image on a small piece of fabric to see how the machine handles it.  Make adjustments to the type of blade, type of fabric or pressure of the blade if necessary (you can do all this after clicking “make it” in Design Space).[spacer height=”20px”]
    4. Place one of your fabric pieces on the mat and customize your image to only cut where the fabric is on the mat.  Because my image is made up of lots of small pieces, I did this in the “Contour” option as described in step 1.  If your image doesn’t allow for this, you can slice off portions of your image by covering the part you want removed with a basic shape from the “shapes” menu on the left.  Then select both the shape and image, click “slice” in the bottom right hand menu and delete whichever selections you don’t want!  Then click “make it” and follow the instructions to cut out your fabric.[spacer height=”20px”]



  1. Peel your fabric off the mat and remove any scraps.  Continue until all your fabric pieces have been cut with the Cricut.  Then sew up your garment according to the pattern instructions.  Be sure to add a lining for modesty if needed![spacer height=”20px”] Voila!  Your very own, custom designed and handmade holiday party outfit.  Now off you go to enjoy being the most fabulous person at that drab office party!

If you’re looking for other quick and fun Cricut DIY’s, check out this knit floral swing dress and these easy T-shirt costumes!

Enter below for a chance to win your own Cricut Maker machine!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

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3 Comments

  • Reply
    Audrey
    December 6, 2017 at 2:50 pm

    You’re an amazing lady, Bonnie! I love your skirt and your creative talent. You are rocking life!!!

    • Reply
      Bonnie
      December 6, 2017 at 5:58 pm

      Why thank you so much Audrey! I think you’re pretty great too!

  • Reply
    Sewing with the Cricut Maker Machine - Make a makeup bag!
    May 23, 2018 at 9:52 am

    […] you’re looking for more Cricut posts, check out this swing dress, metallic gold skirt, gratitude banner and my review of the […]

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