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Some Ruffles for Me!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Remember I made this skirt for my little girl?  Well I finally got around to making this one for me.  It was so fun mixing the colors and I love how it turned out.  Let's get started.

Again I'm using sheets.  Black and Green left over from some other quilt projects I had.  The check is regular 45 inch fabric.

I cut a basic A-line skirt using another skirt I already had as a pattern, adding about 1 inch at each side for seam allowances.

 Next, I sewed the pieces into long continuous strips and gathered each one.  I wasn't sure how much I'd need so I gathered it all.  The fabric was torn and the I did about 7 strips of the check, then all of the green and black fabric I had left over.

 Start pining the black ruffle all the way around the bottom, and stitch in place.

 I wanted the same upward shape of ruffles as my daughters so I cut about a 6 inch piece for the center, then started at the sides and brought the ruffle up and over the 6 inch piece. Layer the ruffles as you go.  Then stitch in place.
 Next I added the Check fabric ruffle.  It goes all the way around and meets in the front.
Then I added another layer of the Check just from the sides and up to the point.  The green ruffle goes all the way around, then another layer starting from the sides and meeting in the middle.

I traced a bowl to give me the circle shape and stitched the green ruffle in a spiral to the center. After the flower was sewn down, I added a stitchable rhinestone to the center for a little bling.

Now the waistband.  Pin the top edge in four equal places like shown.

Get your elastic and fit it to your waist.  Serge or zig-zag the ends closed like so.
Mark the four corners of the elastic with a pencil.


These will match up with the pinned marks on the skirt.
Note:  Put the right side of the elastic against the wrong side of the Fabric.  This keeps the elastic nice and clean on the inside of the fabric waistband.

Match up the marks and pin in place.  Serge or Zig-Zag the top edge of the elastic making sure you catch the fabric on the bottom edge.  Stretch the fabric and elastic as you sew so the the fabric is flat.  This will ensure an even gather.

 Here's what it looks like finished.
 Now fold over the fabric, pin in place so the fabric tightly wraps the elastic.  Top stitch the elastic down, pulling the fabric tight and flat as you sew using both hands, one in back, one in front. You will have a nice even elastic waistband that doesn't roll or bunch.

 Here's a few close-ups of the skirt finished.
 Now with the added Bling!

 And done.  I wore this to church on Sunday and got tons of compliments.  SO easy and cute.  Who'd have thought bed sheets could look this good?!?

Labels: Sewing tutorial, upcycle