ruffle it up

With spring in the air, DIY Day felt like the perfect time for a little wardrobe update. A little time at the sewing machine took this shirt from winter ehhh…

… to spring ahhhh!

My first step was to cut off the sleeves and the Henley neckline. That left me with this,

Next, I took in the shirt under the arms, and sewed up the front.

Then, it was time for some ruffles! I used the red stripes from the sleeves to make ruffles for the tuxedo front and neckline. I good rule of thumb is to cut the fabric twice as long as the desired ruffle. I set the sewing machine to a long stitch, and sewed straight down the middle of the fabric, without backstitching. Then, I just pulled the bottom thread to ruffle. To finish the shirt, I pinned the ruffles in place and sewed them on. This project was a little bit time consuming, but super easy!

If, like me, you’ve been admiring all the ruffle projects around blogland, jump in and try it!

I’m so glad I just went for it, even without knowing exactly what I was doing. You can do it too!

<3
Hattie