Ruffles....what to do with them

Everyone (almos everyone) that I talk to about ruffles, doesn't know this little trick.  They are always fussing with their gathering foot, and not loving the experience.  This has been one of the most useful techinique/tricks I have used.  I use it almost everyday, and it is simple.  No stopping to change presserfoots or anything.  So Hopefully you will enjoy this "how to ruffle" bit and get a new idea or two on what to do with them.

I had some shirts that needed "life"

I also had a shirt I used in the baby pants tutorial found HERE, that I could use up the scraps.  So to do the look of the grey and striped shirt, don't use your rotary and ruler.  Just cut away, making the strips uneven.  This will add great texture to the design.  And it looks pretty with the ruffles.

Now to do ruffles, set your machine to the longest stitch

And set your tension to High

Now sew!  See how the fabric begins to pucker??

Now gather all your strips.

Start pinning the outer circle, then sew.

Continue with each layer

Finish off in the center, then clip all your strings.

Now for another cute idea, make it asymmetrical to one shoulder.

Gather these ruffles as tight as they go.  You may have to tug on the thread (the lower/underside thread)  to make it tighter after running it though your machine.

Layer all the way up to the top of he shoulder.

*try and get your kid to smile and stand still for a great shot...impossible.

I hope you learned something easy and new and found new ruffling ideas.

Enjoy!!!