Who doesn’t love a ruffle?!

I’m so excited about this skirt! I had this Amy Butler fabric that hadn’t yet been made into a tablecloth or napkins, and I thought it would make a nice skirt. I was imagining an A-line skirt, but wanted it to be somewhat more interesting than just a straight skirt. I decided to try a ruffle on the bottom. As you may already know, I am new to sewing, and consequently don’t know the correct way to execute these techniques. No problem, I’ll just fake it! I made the ruffle by sewing together three long strips of the same fabric used for the skirt. It was about 2 1/2 wide, and I just guessed at the length. I wasn’t able to create the ruffle using the machine because I couldn’t find a long enough stitch, so instead I did it by hand. I folded the material in half lengthwise and then used a long running stitch.

Once I had it ruffled up the way I wanted, I pinned it to the front of the dress and then sewed that to the bottom of the skirt. Once again, my machine didn’t seem too happy to have to sew through so many layers of fabric, so I was back to hand turning it and pushing the fabric through (a tedious process, but luckily worth it in the end!). I wanted to be able to see the edge of the ruffle, so I purposely sewed it to the front of the skirt.

I also opted for an elastic waistband in this one – I admit that it would appear more finished and professional if I had used a zipper, but I’m all for comfort. Does it mean I have given up? No indeed. Giving up is elastic waisted sweatpants… when I start sewing those, then you can give me a hard time!