Tale of the Circular Ruffle

I still can't believe how much time I spent trying to figure out how to put ruffles at the bottom of my skirt.

Know what I learned? Ruffles are gathered to fit the edge they're being sewn to, flounces have one edge that fits but the other edge is much wider which creates the ruffle.  So after hours of searching I finally figured out that what I need is a circular ruffle.  It's kind of like a flounce in that you sew it on straight, but depending on how large you do the circles, you control the depth of the ruffle.  I found a great tutorial here that helped me understand the concept.  Now I just need to finish cutting them out and then I can move on.

This is the pattern I came up with

The outer circle is 14" in diameter, and the inner circle is 6" in diameter.  It's pretty much trial and error at this point so I hope it works.  I'm going to finish the underside with the chocolate brown lining fabric.

I also changed the skirt a bit and made the back 1-1/2 inches longer than the fron to give it a bit more flare.

While I was searching, I found this fabulous skirt on Communing With Fabric.  I'll probably omit the hip drape, but that ruffle has my name all over it.

Finally, I'm signed up for the coat sew along at Gertie's Blog so I need to get my fabric and get a muslin done by next Monday.  Totally doable, and I think I already found my fabric.  It's a mid-weight grey tweedy looking fabric and I want a hot pink lining (a nod to one of my favorite designers, Schiaparelli). I'm so excited about making a coat.

One more thing (I feel like Columbo): I signed up for two classes on Craftsy.  One is Gertie's Bombshell Dress class and the other is a Couture Dress class by Susan Khalje that I'm super excited about.  Okay, both are for party dresses, but the principles can be used on any garment.

Success!

Well the muslin for my skirt fit almost perfectly. I had to take in a bit on the center back.  So now I just need to sew this baby up.

I went back to the fabric store for more brown polka dot fabric and I bought a yard to make flounces.  Problem is, I didn't know how to make flounces so I've spent much of the last few days looking for instructions. (Show of hands: who knew the difference between flounces and ruffles? I sure didn't.)

Anyway, tomorrow is the big day and I'm psyched now that I know - or at least have a better idea of - what I'm doing.

My next big challenge: the shelf bust.  Here's an example:

Gorgeous right?  Yep, I love them.  Now if I can just deconstruct the pattern, I'd be a happy girl.

First Project

So for my first project, I'm making a pencil skirt out of some brown polka dot material I found while I was looking for fabric for something else.  Isn't that always what happens though?

I decided to try the rub off method (sounds rather dirty doesn't it?) to copy my favorite pencil skirt.  It has an invisible zipper and some side detailing that makes it fit me perfectly (and I am generous of hip). Basically you trace around your old garment and transfer all the markings to pattern paper. The original skirt has a vent, but I was going to put ruffles at the bottom of this one. Unfortunately I only bought one yard, so no ruffles for me.  Then again, maybe I'll just go back to the fabric store and see if they have any more of this polka dot goodness.  Hmmm, decisions.

Anyway, behold my somewhat messy pattern:

I was going to just cut into the fabric, but I think I'll make a muslin first.  Did I tell you that I made my first muslin ever last week?  Now I'm sold on the method. Yeah, we'll talk.

The waistband on my skirt has a separately cut facing so I'm going to copy it because I love, love, love that skirt. We'll discuss my muslin results in part two.