Ruffled T Skirt~Tutorial Tuesday

Ok, here is the long promised ruffled skirt tutorial. So maybe it isn't new but I do have a trick to make it quicker to make. Instead of sewing each row of ruffle on separately I sew it on as one loooong ruffle that spirals up and around the skirt. No measuring, pinning or math. ;) Just sew!



First I started with a stack of of tshirts from the thrift shop in various fall colors. I'm not particularly fond of these colors but they will work.


I cut each shirt into 3 4" strips


here are my strips after I cut up my shirts


next I cut the bottom off a tshirt that was too small for my son. This will be the skirt base that I sew the ruffles onto.


Next i cut each strip in two


now here is a handy dandy little tool that will save you much time.......the ruffler foot! If you don't have one you can sew a basting stitch and pull it or manually ruffle it (shown in one of my previous tutorials)


now you are going to ruffle all of your tshirt strips together in one long ruffle......keep them all attached


so here is my one long ruffle


now get your skirt base out that you're sewing the ruffles onto....I turned mine inside out because it had writing on it


next I start sewing the ruffle onto the bottom of the skirt


Ok now here is the most important step. When you get back around to where you started sew right up to the beginning then you will want to angle the ruffle up starting a new row. DON'T cut the ruffle!




here's what it looks like when you start the next row


now sew the ruffles far enough from the row below it but not so far that you see the sewing


when you get to the top taper the ruffle back down to the last ruffle ( I forgot to photograph this step)


trim the excess fabric off leaving only about 1/2" of fabric if you're using the wide elastic I used. If you're making a casing you will need to leave about 2" of fabric at the top


3" elastic for the waistband....she prefers this. It's more comfy and it holds better.


cut the elastic to fit her waist then sew the ends together.....I top stitch the seam down for comfort and security




next I put the elastic over the skirt to get an idea of how much I would need to pull the elastic


while you sew the elastic down PULL it! Not the fabric underneath it. When you pull the elastic it will gather the skirt up


here is what it looks like after the elastic is sewn on


now TWIRL!


this skirt was made using the same technique...