Ruffle Fabric

I know, I know, every one's already done ruffle fabric. Well I finally tried it out so now I want to blog about it too! I found this adorable dress while perusing blogs and fell in love. Then I read the tutorial and fell in love all over again. 20 minutes! Seriously?! So I ventured over to Ruffle Fabric and bought me a yard (ps - the fabric got to my doorstep 3 days later!).

Me Sew Crazy...How much do I love this site?! She makes the cutest little things for her daughters. This dress may be the first thing I tried from her site, but it won't be the last!

I just followed the tutorial that Jessica laid out. I have to admit, my dress took far longer than 20 minutes. I'm still really new to sewing and super timid around my machine. That being said, I made the dress! I wanted Addie to try it on to make sure it looked right and she wanted no part of it. However, when I finally got it on her she wouldn't take it off! She just walked around the house modeling and twirling for everyone to see. There was so much fabric leftover I decided to make one for Ellie baby too!

For Ellie's, I just used one of her dresses as a pattern. I folded it in half, placed it on the fabric's fold and cut the front pattern piece. I readjusted the fabric, flipped the dress over, placed it on the fold and cut out the back pattern piece. I sewed it together and voila!

A little note for other beginners who are as impatient as I am. I stitched around the neck far too tight, and it resulted in some curling. Next time, I would definitely take the time to test some things out on a scrap piece first.

I loved the little belt Jessica made for her daughter's dress, but I didn't have anything like that to match the coral fabric I chose. So I looked through my scraps and found some antique white fabric and whipped up an elastic belt. I also think this one by Ruffles and Stuff would be beautiful. Then I added a rolled fabric flower. You could really do anything...just have fun!