fitzfabulous

This top started out as a thrifted nightshirt with a plain front and a bottom rounded bottom edge. Which I promptly cut off and then hemmed up the shirt edge. Those scraps stared at me for months until I figured it out: Ruffles for the front.

finished close up of ruffled front

Making ruffles is really easy with t-shirt strips, fabric strips w finished edges, or in this case, fabric tubes made from scraps.

slices of fabric removed from bottom of original shirt

Either fold the strips in half, lengthwise or measure the halfway mark.

slices of fabric folded in half
or measure strips in half

Cut straight down the middle.

cut fabric in half

Fold each piece in half, lengthwise, wrong sides facing, and press.

fold and press in half, wrong sides together

Sew each strip, wrong sides together, close to the edge.

stitch

I ended up with four tubes, two long and two short.

4 stitched strips

Turn the tubes, so the right sides are out, and press them with the seam in the center back.

flip tubes right sides out

Baste down the middle of each tube.

baste down the middle

Fold the top and bottom edges over and stitch, by hand or machine.

finish ends

Lay strips out on the shirt. I decided to do three, and combine the two short pieces into one long one.

strips laid out

Pin the top of each strip to the shirt neck. I pinned the right side of the top strip upside down at the V point of the shirt.

pin strips at top

Then gather the strips by gently pulling the underthread of the basting. Pin as you gather. When you get to the bottom, fold the edge under.

gather strips and pin in place

All three are pinned and ready to be sewn.

strips gathered and pinned

Stitch down the center of each strip.

stitch pinned strips in place

As if leopard could get better!