The Bella Skirt
Please note that I am not following the exact order and directions on the pattern. I do however encourage you to read the directions all the way through before starting to familiarize yourself with the steps. I also want to remind everyone that if you would like to enlarge any of the images posted in this blog, just click on them. Finally; if you have any questions, suggestions, or tips to share; please make sure to post them on our Facebook group.
1. Seaming and Preparing the Ruffles.
Please note that all seam allowances are 1/4" for this pattern.
A. Grab your top ruffle piece. This should be a single strip of fabric cut out of Fabric D.
With right sides together, stitch down the short end forming a circular band.
Set aside.
B. Grab the Lower Ruffle fabric pieces. You should have cut 2 for size 1-2 and 3 for all other sizes out of fabric A.
Stitch two of the ruffle pieces together by placing the right sides together and stitching down the short ends.
Size 1-2: With right sides together, stitch the two free ends of this strip of ruffle fabrics together, forming a circular band. Make sure you have no twists and turns in your band before stitching it closed.
Set aside.
Size 3-4 and Size 5-6: Add the third ruffle piece to the long strip by placing the right side together with the right side of the long strip. Stitch the short ends.
Finally, with right sides together, stitch the two free ends of this long strip of ruffle fabrics together, forming a circular band. Make sure you have no twists and turns in your band before stitching it closed.
Set aside.
C. Press open all of the seams on the two ruffle bands.
Then, with wrong sides together, fold each of the ruffle bands in half lengthwise and press well with an iron, using a few good shots of steam to make nice, sharp creases.
You should now have two ruffle bands that have both of their raw edges together.
D. Next, you will be gathering your ruffles along the raw edges. Their are many ways to do this. You can gather using basting stitches like we did in steps E/F #9-10 here and then pulling the bobbin thread to gather like we did in step H #5 here.
You could also use a ruffler foot. I have done that for this pattern in the past and it works well. Here is a link to a great tutorial on using a ruffler foot.
I decided to use my serger to gather my ruffles for this project. If you want to use your serger, simply set your differential feed to 2 and overlock the raw edge of your fabric down the length of the ruffle. Your fabric will softly gather under the presser foot. If it doesn't look very gathered, don't worry, we can just pull on the needle threads and gather it up some more when we are attaching it to our skirt pieces.
Set aside your ruffles.
2. Finishing Seams
A. Grab all four of the skirt pieces; waistband, tier #1, tier #2, and petticoat. Finish all seams on all four skirt pieces by either zigzag stitching over them or using a serger to overlock stitch them.
3. Waistband
A. Press the waistband seam to one side.
B. Mark the two sides and the center front at the bottom of the waistband. This is going to help later as you put the pieces together.
C. Form the casing for the waistband by folding over and pressing 1/4".
Fold over and press another 1". Use some shots of steam if you have it to make crisp, sharp folds.
Stitch the casing down by stitching 1/8" from the edge of the fabric. Make sure to leave an opening in the back for inserting the elastic. The instructions do not tell you to do this and it is totally optional, but I also stitched very close to the top edge of the waistband to create a more finished look.
If you want, you can insert the elastic now. I am going to wait until I am finished with the skirt as I find it easier.
D. Grab your top ruffle piece and mark the two sides and center front. We will be matching these up with the marks we made on the waistband piece.
With right sides and raw edges together, pin the ruffle to your waistband. Pull up either, your bobbin threads if you did gathering stitches or your needle threads if you used your serger, to ruffle your ruffle fabric as you pin into place. Make sure you are matching up the back seam on the ruffle and the back seam on the waistband. Also make sure you are matching up all of the marks you made on both.
Sew your ruffle onto your waistband. Set aside.
4. Tier #1
Grab your Tier #1 piece.
A. To reduce bulk, press all seams away from the skinny fabric pieces and towards the larger fabric pieces.
B. Mark the center front, center back, and the sides according the the instructions.
Using the method you prefer, sew gather stitches on the top edge of tier #1. Make sure that your seams stay pressed to the sides and that they do not get bunched up in your gathering stitches. It helps to stop as you get to a seam, make sure the needle stays in the fabric, raise the presser foot, and smooth the seam down flat.
C. With right sides together and sandwiching the ruffle in between, pin tier #1 to the waistband. Make sure to match up your center back, center front, and side marks. Pull up either your bobbin threads if you did gathering stitches or your needle threads if you used your serger, to gather your tier #1. Pin well all the way around.
Sew Tier #1 to the waistband. Overlock or zigzag stitch over the seam.
Press the seam up towards the waistband.
Topstitch 1/8" from the seam. Don't forget to catch any thread tails under the seam and to lengthen your topstitches.
Please note that I am not following the exact order and directions on the pattern. I do however encourage you to read the directions all the way through before starting to familiarize yourself with the steps. I also want to remind everyone that if you would like to enlarge any of the images posted in this blog, just click on them. Finally; if you have any questions, suggestions, or tips to share; please make sure to post them on our Facebook group.
1. Seaming and Preparing the Ruffles.
Please note that all seam allowances are 1/4" for this pattern.
A. Grab your top ruffle piece. This should be a single strip of fabric cut out of Fabric D.
With right sides together, stitch down the short end forming a circular band.
Set aside.
B. Grab the Lower Ruffle fabric pieces. You should have cut 2 for size 1-2 and 3 for all other sizes out of fabric A.
Stitch two of the ruffle pieces together by placing the right sides together and stitching down the short ends.
Size 1-2: With right sides together, stitch the two free ends of this strip of ruffle fabrics together, forming a circular band. Make sure you have no twists and turns in your band before stitching it closed.
Set aside.
Size 3-4 and Size 5-6: Add the third ruffle piece to the long strip by placing the right side together with the right side of the long strip. Stitch the short ends.
Finally, with right sides together, stitch the two free ends of this long strip of ruffle fabrics together, forming a circular band. Make sure you have no twists and turns in your band before stitching it closed.
Set aside.
C. Press open all of the seams on the two ruffle bands.
Then, with wrong sides together, fold each of the ruffle bands in half lengthwise and press well with an iron, using a few good shots of steam to make nice, sharp creases.
You should now have two ruffle bands that have both of their raw edges together.
D. Next, you will be gathering your ruffles along the raw edges. Their are many ways to do this. You can gather using basting stitches like we did in steps E/F #9-10 here and then pulling the bobbin thread to gather like we did in step H #5 here.
You could also use a ruffler foot. I have done that for this pattern in the past and it works well. Here is a link to a great tutorial on using a ruffler foot.
I decided to use my serger to gather my ruffles for this project. If you want to use your serger, simply set your differential feed to 2 and overlock the raw edge of your fabric down the length of the ruffle. Your fabric will softly gather under the presser foot. If it doesn't look very gathered, don't worry, we can just pull on the needle threads and gather it up some more when we are attaching it to our skirt pieces.
Set aside your ruffles.
2. Finishing Seams
A. Grab all four of the skirt pieces; waistband, tier #1, tier #2, and petticoat. Finish all seams on all four skirt pieces by either zigzag stitching over them or using a serger to overlock stitch them.
3. Waistband
A. Press the waistband seam to one side.
B. Mark the two sides and the center front at the bottom of the waistband. This is going to help later as you put the pieces together.
C. Form the casing for the waistband by folding over and pressing 1/4".
Fold over and press another 1". Use some shots of steam if you have it to make crisp, sharp folds.
Stitch the casing down by stitching 1/8" from the edge of the fabric. Make sure to leave an opening in the back for inserting the elastic. The instructions do not tell you to do this and it is totally optional, but I also stitched very close to the top edge of the waistband to create a more finished look.
If you want, you can insert the elastic now. I am going to wait until I am finished with the skirt as I find it easier.
D. Grab your top ruffle piece and mark the two sides and center front. We will be matching these up with the marks we made on the waistband piece.
With right sides and raw edges together, pin the ruffle to your waistband. Pull up either, your bobbin threads if you did gathering stitches or your needle threads if you used your serger, to ruffle your ruffle fabric as you pin into place. Make sure you are matching up the back seam on the ruffle and the back seam on the waistband. Also make sure you are matching up all of the marks you made on both.
Sew your ruffle onto your waistband. Set aside.
4. Tier #1
Grab your Tier #1 piece.
A. To reduce bulk, press all seams away from the skinny fabric pieces and towards the larger fabric pieces.
B. Mark the center front, center back, and the sides according the the instructions.
Using the method you prefer, sew gather stitches on the top edge of tier #1. Make sure that your seams stay pressed to the sides and that they do not get bunched up in your gathering stitches. It helps to stop as you get to a seam, make sure the needle stays in the fabric, raise the presser foot, and smooth the seam down flat.
C. With right sides together and sandwiching the ruffle in between, pin tier #1 to the waistband. Make sure to match up your center back, center front, and side marks. Pull up either your bobbin threads if you did gathering stitches or your needle threads if you used your serger, to gather your tier #1. Pin well all the way around.
Sew Tier #1 to the waistband. Overlock or zigzag stitch over the seam.
Press the seam up towards the waistband.
Topstitch 1/8" from the seam. Don't forget to catch any thread tails under the seam and to lengthen your topstitches.
You have finished lesson #2. Congratulations. We only have one more lesson left to finish the skirt.
Thanks for sewing with me,
Danielle Storm
www.whimsicalfabric.com
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