Sunday, January 9, 2011

Daisy Chain Ruffles

Last spring I picked up one yard of Amy Butler's Daisy Chain in the indigo colorway.  It was the same material as her bonnet for this coming summer.  Last year I wasn't able to find any of the matching fabrics for her bonnet so I didn't want the same thing to happen this year.

A few weeks ago during Field's anniversary sale I picked up McCall's pattern #6062. I knew ruffle pants weren't too difficult to make, but I do much better with a pattern.  I also liked that this pattern was a double ruffle.


Well, as you read in earlier posts last week, I had a little trouble sewing the ruffle on with the correct fabric side facing front.  First I attached the double ruffle on backwards.  I said a few choice words, then regrouped.*  I still had enough fabric left to make single ruffles and told myself the double ruffle was going to make a kickin' Bitty Baby skirt.

The next day I prepared the single ruffles and got all ready to sew them on.  I did one, pulled it out to see how cute the pants would be and realized I sewed it on backwards again.  Yeah.*  The worst part about this was that I had serged it on and removing all the serging stitches is next to impossible.  Maybe it can be done, but I don't have the patience for it.  I no longer had enough fabric to add ruffles to each leg.  I could have turned them into bloomers, but I had my heart set on ruffles.  Tillie and I set out that night to the Field's on 44th to look for the fabric, but they didn't have it.

The next morning we volunteered to pick Kizie up from school so that I could stop at the Holland Field's where I originally bought the fabric.  (And, I had vowed to not shop there again, but that's another story.)  They didn't have it either.  Since Kizie hoped to go to Pizza Hut for lunch, I decided to take Chicago Dr. to the one in Grandville and stop at the Field's in Jenison.

Kizie the babysitter stayed in the car with Tillie and I popped in the store.  They had a great selection in stock, including all of the coordinating Daisy Chain prints.  I couldn't believe they didn't have the one fabric I needed.  Just then I looked up to see a mom, grandma and daughter (my age) who had a cart piled with fabrics.  There in the middle of the stack was my fabric.  I wavered for a minute, then walked up to them.  "Hi, are you planning to buy all the fabric on this bolt? I just need one half yard because I messed up on a project I was making for my daughter."  Thankfully, they were more than happy to let me borrow the bolt for a minute and get a half yard cut off of it.  I gleefully walked back out to the car waving the fabric to Kizie as I neared the van.

Since I had a little more fabric to work with, I lengthened the ruffles a little since I was planning on just the single.  I'll work up to the double again, but I was anxious to get this project finished.  I still need to topstich the ruffle to the pant.  I think next time I'll use a little less fabric so the ruffle isn't so full.  I did a rolled hem using my serger.  I'm starting to get the hang of it! 

Tillie wasn't a very willing model last night.  She did not want to wear the bonnet.

They're supposed to be cropped.  I assume they will be by summer.

Also, I'd like you to see how unwilling of a model she was.

*When I was little we were never allowed in the room when my mom was sewing.  This was because it was the only time she swore.  When I told her this story she said, "See!  That's why you couldn't come in the room when I was sewing!  It's not just me!"  Thankfully, Tillie was sleeping when I was working on these.

No comments: