Lily Giggle Sew Along That Fab Jujuebe Dress Day 3 Ruffles and maybe a bow

Once again this post does contain affiliate links to Lily Giggle Pattern Shop

First off, if you happen to find this post months, years, or more from now and you are wondering where to find this super very cute fab Jujube dress pattern I will
help you out.  You can find it HERE .  Now if you would like to find the first two parts to the sewalong you can find them at-
Day 1
http://cottonbelleboutique.blogspot.com/2014/09/lilygiggle-jujube-dress-sew-along-day-1.html

Day 2
http://cottonbelleboutique.blogspot.com/2014/09/lilygiggle-jujube-dress-sew-along-day-2.html

Day 3
(you found it)

Day 4
http://cottonbelleboutique.blogspot.com/2014/09/lilygiggle-jujube-sew-along-day-4.html

Day 5
http://cottonbelleboutique.blogspot.com/2014/09/lilygiggle-jujube-sew-along-day-5.html

and finally you can join the Lily Giggle Facebook group here


Alright, alright so I am kinda boring.  I am doing practically the exact same dress as my test.  Well, I ended up getting an order in my Etsy shop (this does not happen often) and I am thinking I do not have time to sew up two, so I am working on my order and including it in the sew along.  Maybe I will get lucky and find the time two make two!  I hope so!!!  Thank You, Thank You, THANK YOU by the way for including me Lily Giggle!!!

I am told my part is the ruffle, bow, and that is kinda it.  Should be easy right.  Well, we will see how much sense I make.  I do happen to be a self taught sewist.  So if you see/read some strange techniques that might just be because I made them up : ).

Shall we began- Eeeks ...Bit nervous here : )  First I cut out my ruching fabric!  I like to fold up my fabric as much as possible and cut the strip. I am all about fast : ). I cut two, two inch wide strips on the fold and stitched them together on one end.

On to the good part-Ruching

Look at that.  The fabric is starting flat but leaving the needle ruched and ruffled!  I just love it : ).  I set my stitch length to the longest length possible and tightened the tension as high as possible.  This was the result : ).


 Now lets get back to the dress.  My ruched stripes are ready to go.  We just need to find where to put them. That would be the center of the front.  I find the center by matching up the shoulder seams and than match the front sides (future side seams)  starting at the armpits and going all the way down.  I have the center marked with the first arrow.  Yes, I know that is a silly arrow because you already know what the center is. The second arrow is showing the shoulder seams (you probably knew that one too).

Next open up the shirt and lay it flat.  The center should now be visible and should be a perfect guide to align with the rushing, yep that word again - guide.

This is my very favorite part.  Mostly because I had never even heard of wonder tape until I tested this pattern.

Wonder tape may just be the most useful tool Ever! : )  As you can see above I just held the ruching guide along the center line I had ironed and ran the wonder tape along both sides and the neckline as the guided arrows show.  I would have left the tape backing on until I was able to attach the ruched ruffle; but I had a little helper who had different ideas.

Sneaky Babies : )

Alright, the next step is pretty simple. Remove that backing and run the ruched fabric on top of the tape and stitch it down.  I like to use a tripple stitch at the longest stitch length.  

It looks like this on my machine.

I just stitch it right down the center all the way around.  

Done...Well thats if you want just the ruffle.  Are you maybe going to add the big giant bow?  If so read on : )

I layed out my bow fabric ontop of the dress dress.  The width of mine for this size 7 was about 7".  I cut the fabric at the arrow for the length.  Now stitch the ends together.

Place the stitched line in the center and squish together like in my photo.  You can than tie a piece of thread around the middle to hold its place.

Now cut a small piece out for the center of the bow.  Mine was about 4x5".  Fold the piece so that no raw edges are showing and wrap it around the center of the bow.  This is another place I found the wonder tape helpful!

I placed it on the bow center to hold everything in place and also placed it on the dress to hold the bow in place.

Place the bow on the dress as desired and stitch.  I stitched down the edge of the center on each side.  This worked well with my fabric because it is so thin and is not really visible.  If you have a thicker fabric you may need to hand stitch from the inside so that the thread is not visible. 

One last little tiny part I forgot to take a picture of.  I added a few little stitches to hold up the bow.  See my fantastic arrows again.  The stitches were right at the top of each side of the bow.  

Phew, That's it!  Now take a well needed break.  Ruffles, Ruching, and Great Big Bows is alot of work : ).  

Shall we continue tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping, and here are a few pictures of my original dress