Ruffle Fabric Love

 It's been awhile but I made a commitment to not sew until the house was in order. After Mom died the house didn't just get away from me, it ran screaming wildly down the road and into the next state (maybe two states)
 I fully plan on doing a walk of shame/proud of my accomplishments post with before and after pictures of just how bad the den/computer/dining/craft/sewing room was when it's finally done but that is for another day. And although the den is not yet where it needs to be we've made HUGE headway. So I took a small break from de-hoarding and sewed up two things.

 I won this incredibly beautiful ruffle knit fabric from Simple Simon and Co. (Along with an AMAZING haul of other gorgeous wonderstuff)   It's original intention was a Coastal Curtsy Skirt from No Big Dill. Although that is an absolutely darling idea, I don't sew from myself and as soon as I saw the fabric I knew it needed to be a tank dress with gold trim. (And probably several other things because there is a ton of it.)

 Then Wub started taking dance classes and I realised she really, really REALLY needed a pair of ruffle shorts for dance class.

 So I folded about nine inches over on one side of the fabric and carefully pinned it in place making sure to keep the ruffles falling in one direction. Then I downloaded and printed off The Girls Knit Tank Top Pattern sizes 3-8 and FREE) from Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom. I used size 6 which was pretty roomy on Wub who's a RTW 7. I lowered the neckline slightly by following the size 4 neck curves. I also added 5 inches to the bottom to make it dress length.

 Then I found a pair of leggings and traced them to make the pattern for the shorts.  

 I was actually making these simultaneously can you guess?

 I was trying to be as careful as possible with the cutting and pinning because I didn't want to cut away bits of ruffle in awkward places. I was also really cautious with pattern placement because I wanted the ruffles to line up really well.

  The shorts were super easy. I matched sewed the seat and front seams first using a zizag then matched and sewed the inseam. One thing did do was pull a little bit of the cut ruffle out past the edge of the seam so when I sewed it together the raw edge would be on the inside. Because the fabric has such good recovery I didn't bother with a waistband at all. I may regret this after dance class next week but if I do I'll add one then.

 For the dress I followed the directions in the tutorial just making extra sure to pin the ruffles down in the right direction. It turned out super cute. She's going to wear it to a bridal shower tomorrow. Can't wait to show it off for real.

 And the "scarf" is just the leftover strip of fabric from the edge. I still have so much fabric leftover i could make her several skirts or dresses. I'm thinking about trying to dye some of it because even though I love the palest pink color of it, how many antique pink dresses/tops/skirts etc. does one girl need?

 So back to sorting, pitching and donating *sigh* but it was lovely while it lasted...