Bias Ruffles: a godsend for ruffle addicts...

Everyone has a great tutorial on creating something with ruffles.  Most of the tutes you see are for refashioning t-shirts or making ruffled skirts from t-shirts.  Since t-shirts are made of jersey and jersey doesn't fray, creating ruffles is very easy.  But what about woven fabric?  It frays like crazy.  You have to hem it or your ruffles will turn to fringe and you'll be shedding strings all over the place.  There has to be a better way, right?  Well there is!  WOVEN FABRIC CUT ON THE BIAS DOES NOT FRAY!!!!  After fighting with my narrow hem foot for hours trying to hem some calico to make ruffles, I came across this tute:

Squiggly Twig Designs showed me the light!
Bias strip ruffles were the solution to my
ruffle dilemma!

and this tute all about ruffles:

This is an informative ruffle tute by See Kate Sew.

Bias strip ruffle usage is not unheard of in the blogging tutorial world, but there isn't a lot out there. 

Here are some of my favorites:

Micah C Micah Do has a great ruffled pillow tute!

Another pretty pillow tute by Midwestern {sewing} Girl

This beautiful skirt uses bias strips sewn in tiers
for a gorgeous effect.  Kudos to No Big Dill for this beaut!

This cute pouch is made even cuter with a bias strip ruffle.
Find the tute on That's My Letter: "R" is for Ruffles.

You can find the tutorial for this phenomenal pillow
at Ameroonie Designs.

Here are a few things I've made using bias ruffles:

 How would you like to see a neat-o torpedo little ruffle shortcut?  Awww, that perked up your ears!
This is how I deal with rows and rows of cascading ruffles:

What you'll need to start:

• fabric that looks the same on either side cut into wide bias strips (4"-6" is ideal)
• sewing machine with a straight stitch and coordinating thread
• hot iron with steam

The 1st step is to cut your woven fabric into wide bias strips.  How long?  Super long.  I wouldn't start unless I had a strip at least 6ft long.  Think about it, if you gather it really tight, you would probably only end up with 3 ft of ruffles. 
This is a good video tutorial on how to attach strips of bias. 

The 2nd step is to mark an off-center mid-line down the length of your strip.  I did this by ironing in a good crease.  For this tute, my bias strip is 4" wide and my off-center crease was 2.5" from the edge.

The 3rd step is to gather your strips along the crease. 
Most people will gather fabric by sewing a long straight stitch and pulling one of the threads.  I tried that, but my thread kept breaking.  Other folks are lucky enough to have a ruffle foot for their sewing machines.  I am  not so lucky.  Because I was frustrated and a bit lazy, I came up with my own gathering method.  I simply pinch and pleat/fold my fabric as I am feeding it under the foot and to my needle. No special equipment needed. One step and I'm done. You can see that my ruffles are more like irregular pleats.  This may bother you, but I've made peace with it.  :-)

The 4th step is to fold and press your strip on your off-center mid-line.  Like magic, you have a double row of ruffles.  Now you can see why you choose your fabric carefully.  The peach linen I used doesn't really have a right or wrong side. 
Another thing you may have noticed is the seam where I connected two bias strips.  The seams will show.  I've made peace with that fact.  You can too! 

And that's it!  You're done.  Easy huh?  Hmmm, still can't visualize why this is such a cool technique?  Keep scrolling down and look at my little demo.  If you're like me, you need to SEE it all played out in order to be properly inspired.

What could you do with 2 double ruffles?

Why, you could stack them up and make a quadruple row of ruffles!
Starting to see where I'm coming from?

How many rows of rufles do you see on my little handbag? 

To make this purse, I made one long strip of ruffles and sewed them around a tube of fabric.
The ruffles literally spiral up and around the tube.
The arrow points to one end of my ruffle.

This arrow points to the other end of my ruffle way down on the bottom of the handbag.

Like looking up a lady's skirt, right?
I mentioned sewing around a tube earlier, right?  Well, I sewed up one end of the tube using a french seam to hide the raw edges.  The other end of the tube was folded over a few times and hemmed to finish the top edge of the bag.  I sewed on strips of bias to the top and tied on the bamboo handles.

Because I believe one cannot have too many visual aids.  I drew up this little sketch to show you how I started stitching the ruffles onto the purse.  I began near the "bottom" of the tube and spiraled up to the top.  I left enough unruffled fabric at the bottom to make a decent french seam and enough at the top to fold under a few times and hem to finish the top.

And so concludes yet another long-winded post by Rikka J!

Thank you for hanging in there with me!

Please let me know if I can make anything clearer for you.

I love that you are reading my posts and I have to tell you, it is so awesome to see my stats get better and better every week!  Thank you so much for becoming a follower and telling others about Ricochet and Away!  You all rock!

Happy Crafting and big hugs from Montana!

Be sure to check out the Retro Pillow Challenge!
It starts in September so you still have time to join in!

Crastal at Homemaker in Heels featured this post.  Thanks Crystal! 

Check out her sweet and sassy blog:

This tute caught the eye of Craft Gossip too!  My fave craft site!

This is where I party:

http://www.handymancraftywoman.com/

http://sewmuchado.blogspot.com/

http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/

http://gingersnapcrafts.blogspot.com/

http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/

http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/

http://www.rookno17.com/

http://www.craftyconfessions.com/

http://thecreativeitchboutique.blogspot.com/

http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/

http://ladybug-blessings.com/

http://carolynshomework.blogspot.com/

http://www.tipjunkie.com/

http://nightowlcrafting.blogspot.com/

http://runwithglitter.blogspot.com/

http://makingtheworldcuter.blogspot.com/

http://www.creationsbykara.com/

http://savedbylovecreations.com/

http://www.sewstylishboutique.blogspot.com/

http://www.somewhatsimple.com/

http://lbratina.blogspot.com/

http://litandlaundry.blogspot.com/

http://itsahodgepodgelife.blogspot.com/

http://funtocraft.blogspot.com/

http://kojodesigns.blogspot.com/

http://nv-craftenvy.blogspot.com/

http://niftythriftythings.blogspot.com/

http://www.homemakerinheels.com/

http://sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com/

http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/

http://jembellish.blogspot.com/

http://www.thegirlcreative.com/

http://www.iheartnaptime.net/