I saw a skirt in a store in Osh Kosh that was made something like this. It was quite a while before I actually made a sample, so I don't remember exactly how that one was made, but here is how I make mine.
I have one piece of paper for the panels. I am wearing it out by making folds to size from large to medium to small. It has about 347 pin holes in it, but it still works just fine!!!
I cut out panels from t-shirts or other light weight knit garments. For the winter skirts, I use very light weight sweaters also. The skirt part has 4 panels on each side for a total of 8 since it is reversible. The waist is another piece of a shirt. So that makes 9 fabrics. Sometimes I use 2 or 3 from the same shirt so there might be less variety.
The cutest skirts in my opinion have a logo of something you love such as batman, the Cubs, your college, etc. My favorite one was made from my Phantom of the Opera t-shirt.
One side is usually more plain and reserved and the other side has more crazy colors or the logo or graphics. One side has hidden seams and one side has the serged edges showing.
This skirt fits low at the waist and the waistband can be folded down if you are tucking in a shirt or leaving it out. If I leave my shirt out, I like to not fold down the waistband. It comes higher up that my natural waist, sorta like a high waisted skirt, but it is not lumpy under the shirt where the skirt would be folded down. More flattering to the figure!!! Always love that!!!
All the garments I use to make the skirts have been worn and laundered who know how many times. After I make the skirt, I wash and dry it just because it gets a little stretched out in the construction and that way when you get it, you know it will not shrink to a smaller size than it already is. I only partially dry my knits and then hang dry to finish, so if you leave it in the dryer a really long time, it might shrink.
For the most slimming look, remember we are all about that, center a panel across your front rather than having a seam in center front. Having your body divided into 3 parts is more slimming than having it divided into 2 parts.
Don't worry about matching a shirt as you already have several shades of the theme color going on, so what is one more shade. For example, if your skirt has 5 brown colors in it, just throw on a brown top. It will surely go with one of the shades of brown!
The skirt needs to fit tight at the hips where the 4 panels are attached to the waist section. But not too tight, or bulges will show. We don't want that! If it fits right at the hips, the waist can be a little loose which gives it a slouchy look, which is cute.
I spend a lot of time coordinating the colors for these skirts. That is the artistic challenge that keeps me interested in making so many.