Random Ruffles

I somehow managed to find a little creative time this weekend.  I thought I’d try out ruffling with my serger and am I ever impressed.  I will never ruffle with a basting stitch again – this was much, much easier, and a whole lot nicer.  

Any serger with a differential can ruffle.  Follow the manufacturer settings, and ruffle away – no experience needed.

What could I make with an hour of time and my new found love of serger ruffling?  A ruffle dress for my 4 yr old of course!

I am not going to post an official tutorial on this since I really created this dress on the fly and didn’t take many pictures since I didn’t know how it was going to come out.  I didn’t make any precise measurements, nor do any planning.  I am actually surprised that it came out as well as it did!

Basically, I took a cheap ribbed sleeveless T (I think it cost $3.00), and layered 5” ruffled strips until I reached the length I wanted!

Here is a quick overview:

1. Determine how long you want the dress to be (I made this one about 21” long)
   
2. Decide where you want the ruffles to start on the t-shirt and cut the excess shirt off (make sure to account for a 1/2” seam allowance).
   
   
3. Cut a series of 5” x 45” strips of fabric for your ruffled layers.  Keep in mind that when you ruffle, the length will be shortened almost in half.  Ruffle the length of one side of each of the strips (leaving out one strip because you will want to finish the hem before ruffling)
   
4. Measure the width of the t-shirt where you will be attaching the skirt (mine was about 12”).  You will want your first ruffle to be 1-2” wider to account for seam allowances.  Cut two ruffled strips to this size (one for the front and one for the back). 
   
5. Centering the strips, layer the ruffled strips until you get to the last strip that you have not ruffled yet.
   
6. Create a 1/2” hem on that strip and then ruffle the opposite edge.
   
7. Add this to the bottom of your layers.
   
8. Lay the layers down and starting at the top, cut the excess pieces of ruffled strips down the length of each side at the desired angle you wish the dress to flare out.  I eyeballed it and it came out great – you can be more precise!
   
9. Repeat steps 5-8 to make the back of the dress.
   
10. With right sides together, attach the front of the dress to the back of the dress being sure to line up the ruffled seams.
    
11. Now, just attach the “dress” to the cut t shirt (right sides together).  You can easily disguise any differences in width by gathering the fabric – this is a ruffle dress after all!
    
12. There you have it – a cute little dress in an hour without a lot of measuring.