Ruffled Girls skirt!

Even though I don't wear many "frilly" things myself, I adore making them.  My neighbor's and friend's little girls' birthdays were a perfect excuse to make some adorable ruffle skirts from Snazziedrawer's "Ooh La La Ruffled Skirt Pattern."

Here are a few pictures of my process and one of the finished skirts.

I must say that Snazziedrawer's pattern is great for beginner and experienced sewers.  She gives enough information that a person can start sewing with this pattern.  Those who are more experienced can use her pattern and alter or skip some of her instructions, as necessary.  


For example, instead of making the requested 1/4" turned hem on the ruffles, I used my serger to make a narrow rolled hem on each side.  The results weren't quite as pretty, so I stitched grosgrain ribbon over the top hem of each ruffle.

Personally, I think the ribbon trim gives the design some kick:

What do you think?

Commissioned wristlets instead of refashioned skirt

Well, you see what my last post was about. I've gotten a little sidetracked since then by a... *trumpet trill* Commission!

A week ago last Tuesday a bride purchased my frilly wristlet in my etsy shop and asked me to make some for her bridesmaids. How could I say no?

I offered her a few fabric choices, and she chose the blue and white. So cute!

First, I made a pattern, remembering as much as I could from putting the first one (the bride's wristlet) together a month or so ago. I traced this onto poster board and cut it out, so as to have a more durable pattern. Next, I cut out everything: fashion fabric, lining, batting, batting backing, interfacing, etc. I figured I'd do everything in an assembly-line way to save time. It worked pretty well.

Next I made quilt sandwiches out of the fashion fabric, batting, and backing. I then quilted them together using a straight stitch and my walking foot. To make things a bit easier, I just followed the lines on the fabric.

I finally put my ruffler foot to use on this blue satin blanket binding.

At first I stitched the blue ruffles to the gold ribbon, but then had to pick it out once I decided I wanted the blue ruffles on each side of each wristlet. I had used some rayon binding that I had in my stash, but ran out. The satin blanket binding that I picked up at Joann's was a bit glossier and smoother, so I picked out the rayon stuff and added the poly satin back in.

Here I am putting the lining together.

I've figured out a way, with my laptop hooked to my camera, to use my cordless trackball mouse to take photos. I then just have to angle my arm so I can click the left mouse button with my elbow. LOL. In this way, I can (hopefully) start doing tutorials!

Getting ready to put the zip in after I've stitched the pleated bottom to the flat top.

I stitched both the outer fabric and the lining to the zipper. I then pinned the lining in place on the inside of the outer fabric (wrong side to wrong side) and topstitched just on the outside of the zipper seam for a more finished look. After that, I hand-stitched on each pearly button (knotting each one separately).

After the buttons, I threaded the gold organza ribbon thru and around the button shanks in a decorative way. After that, I hand-stitched the gold ribbon down in a few strategic spots around the buttons, then used a faggoting stitch on my machine to stitch it down in more visible areas.

Here's a photo of all four wristlets, showing off their different linings.

A shot of all four wristlet fronts. I later added a simple zipper pull of a pearly shank button on a bit of organza ribbon, knotted after passing through the white zipper pull "eye."

I hope you've enjoyed browsing through my process. These were quite a bit of fun to make, and I plan on making more wristlets from the same pattern soon.

Maybe I can get back to that skirt first, though. :)

Pack Your Bags zippy pouch now in shop!

I just put a new bag up in my shop, a "Pack Your Bags" zippy pouch. Go check it out!

(Edited 08/12/09: This bag has been sold! Check back soon for more faboo bags in the works!)