Ruffles ruffles ruffles!

I have a really hard and really fun time deciding what to make each month for my projects. On the one hand, I would love to make cute colorful purses, pillows, dresses, and every kind of accent for my home imaginable. On the other hand though, things get expensive! Especially if you want pretty fabric. So I tend to buy fabric on sale, and keep it forever until I find a project that actually works with it. Maybe when I get better at finding good deals on fabric I will make some projects that I'm dying to do! For now, we just have ruffles.

Project I want to do so bad once I save up for cute fabric!

So...don't ask why I bought muslin fabric. When I look at my store bought skirts, they all have super soft fabric. So when I go to the store (especially if I haven't researched the fabric I need for a specific project), I just walk around feeling the fabrics until I find something that seems close. And apparently muslin felt close. Little did I know that when I later researched muslin to see what I could do with it, it seems muslin is mostly used for making models of other fabrics! Oh dear...I bought myself under-fabric. Basically.

So the muslin sat in my closet for quite a few months, as it watched other fabrics be made into lovely skirts. Then, I came across this skirt from Alisa Burke. Oh. My. Ruffles! I'm not even sure why I thought this skirt could work for me. I don't really use petticoats...and I don't have adorable riding boots! But it's about the only skirt I could find that used muslin, and so I went for it.

Adorable Alisa Burke skirt

I am so so so glad I did go for it.  First of all, new skills! I love learning new sewing skills. This skirt taught me how to make ruffles and how to (kind of) serge the end of my fabric. Actually, that's a lie- it's not close to serging at all. But it works all the same for this skirt.

I can't believe how easy this skirt was. You see, it isn't meant to be perfect. In fact, the messier the better! All I did was cut front and back using a skirt I liked the shape of, then I cut ten strips for a ruffle. I had a hard time deciding how long to do my fabric so it would still be long enough when ruffled, so I did some research. Apparently 1.5-3x the length you want is a good place to start. But...like me (this always happens so I should probably have learned by now), I didn't have quite enough fabric to do that much, so I just made the strips as long as my fabric would let me (which I think ended up being almost 1.5x length). Luckily (fhew), it was perfect! I sewed along the top with the longest stitch length my machine had, then I pullled one end of the string to ruffle it. I think technically you are supposed to do one regular 'stabilizing' stitch, then another one to pull, but I was going for ease and care-free-ness.

This is what the top of the ruffles looks like. Frayed and crooked, but who cares!

So after ruffling 10 strips, I sewed them on by eyeballing it. I started with the bottom ruffle and made it line up with the bottom of the skirt, then just moved each one up and pinned. After that, it was just sewing the two sides together, adding a waistband at the top, and a zipper (oh yah...by "it was just" I clearly mean I had to take out and redo the zipper, just like always! But I think I am getting better... :D maybe...). Alisa Burke did an elastic waist on hers, but I plan to wear mine much more like a skirt, so I chose a zipper.

All the ruffles sewn on

Alisa Burke also didn't hem her ruffles at all. Which works- and I planned to do that too. However, after just trying it on for sizing, it was already unraveling too much for my liking, so I started researching how to finish the edges. There were some good options- actual folding and hemming the layers, using a fray checking product, zigzag stitching, or even clear nail polish! (which I actually almost tried). I decided to try zigzag stitching, but while looking through my machine instructions, I found another stitch that was called overcast stitching.

I actually didn't know at all what it was, but it looked and sounded right! So I tried it first on a small scrap, then went ahead and overcast stitched all my ruffles! And...it's perfect. Really. I like the look better than zigzag, and it keeps all the fraying in check. Hurray!

The overcast stitch. You can tell the fabric had already frayed quite a bit! 

I haven't worn it yet, but I already love it hanging there in my closet. It's crazy and not like anything else I have, but it's also a neutral so it's not too crazy, right? Yay for learning about overcasting and ruffles!

The final skirt. It goes up high on the waist to stay modest, and then the ruffles get crazy!