Layer of Ruffles Skirt

One project that did get completed last week was this ruffly skirt for my daughter.  Many prefer to wear this style so that it hits above the knees, but we wear things long around here.  I wouldn't attempt this skirt without a ruffler foot on my machine- unless you're patient and ambitious. 

Ruffler foot woes:  I have purchased three ruffler feet, tried them on all three of my machines, read several blog posts and repeatedly watched you-tube videos and I FINALLY, after over a year, found a combination that works.  YIKES!  I bet the company that makes generic ruffler feet would sell ten times more if they actually included direction with the foot they sell!  Aye, I digress. 

After looking at this tutorial for an adorable skirt I came up with my version. 

I used a knit fabric and didn't make any hems- really cuts the sewing time down- but it definitely is a more casual look.  I used a needle specifically for stretch fabrics and sewed each seam with a slight zig zag stitch.

First, measure the length you want your skirt.

Measure your widest point- usually hips-  and add about an inch on each side for a seam allowance.

Put these measurements into play and cut a rectangle of your desired fabric.

Then sew up the length side of your rectangle making a tube.

Out of the remaining fabric I cut strips five inches tall and as long as my fabric piece came.  I ran these through the ruffler foot on a setting of a gather for every six stitches.

With the right side out, and the seam placed at what will be the center back of the skirt, I used my frixion gel pen to draw a line every four inches going up from the bottom of the skirt tube.  Then I attached the ruffles by lining them up with the lines and sewing in place- starting at the bottom and working up. 

If my ruffle strip didn't make it all the way around the skirt I just picked up another piece, folded the raw edge under about an inch and placed it so that it slightly overlapped the previous piece and started sewing again-

When attaching the final layer of ruffles- I sewed the ruffle on "upside down"  so that I could flip it down- covering the stitching.  I pressed that edge down as well.

To finish I folded down the waistband and inserted a piece of elastic the measurement of my daughter's waist.  I love how it turned out!

If you want real directions to another super cute skirt check out what Anna made here.