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Ruffle Butt Bloomers

Ruffle Butt Bloomers - {The Ribbon Retreat Blog}

I’ve been meaning to get these ruffle bloomers done for a while now!  Remember these Spikey Pom Pom Hair clips?  I matched the ribbon to this fabric.  Thankfully those bows match a ton of things and we’ve put them to good use.

I used Catalina, Orange Santa Rosa, Pink Hollywood, and Green Hollywood fabric from California Dreamin’ by Jenean Morrison.  Too cute!  I have some scraps left over too.  What should I make with them?  Have you made anything awesome out of scraps lately?  I’d love to hear about it!  Leave me a comment. 🙂

These bloomers are pretty dang easy!  Since I was already in the mode of ruffles from doing this Lace Petti Romper, these whipped up pretty easy.

–Supplies–

Fabric
Elastic
Thread
Easy Turner
Elastic Thread
Vanishing Fabric Marker

Width — Measure the child’s waist and double it.
(FYI: I tried to do less than double and it didn’t work out).

Length — Measure from waist to knee and add at least 3″ for the top casing and the bottom hem.  (Better to be safe than sorry I always say).

Ruffles — Cut 2″ strips — double the length of your width, which is your child’s waist x 2.  I did 3 ruffles.

Cut the fabric according to your measurements.  My fabric was 11 1/2″ long and 17″ wide for my 13 month baby girl.  (Double up the fabric before you cut it).  You should have two fabric pieces now.

Put the wrong sides of the fabric together and fold them in half to find the center.  Find a circle to trace that is about 3″ wide.  Trace a half circle onto the center of the fabric about 2–3″ high.  Cut out the half circle.

Do a double folded hem (fold the fabric over a 1/4″ and then again 1/4″) on the bottom of both fabric pieces.  Do a single fold on the top of both fabric pieces.  Pin and sew.

Once you have sewn the bottom hem and the single top fold,
put right sides together and sew the side seams.

Sew the half circle closed (the crotch).

Now you have a very wide pair of shorts that look like they will never fit your little baby.  But they will!

I decided to let my ruffles be raggedy.  I sewed a line of stitching about 1/8″ away from one side so that the ruffles wouldn’t fray too much.

To gather the other side of the fabric strip for the ruffle, set your machine to the tightest tension setting and the longest stitch length.

Pictured above are 3 fabric ruffle strips waiting patiently to be sewn onto the bloomers/shorts… whatever you want to call them. 🙂

Use the Vanishing Marker and a ruler to draw lines on the bloomers where the ruffles will be attached.  Make sure the lowest line is at least 2″ above the crotch.

Pin the ruffles on and sew in place.  Don’t forget to backstitch.

Always start at the bottom when adding ruffles.  (A lesson learned the hard way).  🙂

Fold the top of the bloomers over for your elastic casing.
Make the casing at least 1/4″ bigger than your elastic.

Make sure to leave a hole to insert your elastic!

In the picture above the top line of stitching is from the single fold from earlier.

Insert your elastic using a safety pin or Easy Turner Tool.
Pull both ends of the elastic out of the hole you left.

Overlap the elastic and sew it together.  I used a zig zag stitch.  Shown above.

Sew the opening that was used for inserting the elastic closed.

The bloomers are almost done.  Now it is time to add a couple rows of shirring to the leg holes.  This is the EASIEST way to add a little stretch.  If you don’t know how to shirr have a look at this post Making a Shirred Dress.

Basically you just hand wind the bobbin with elastic thread and put it in the bobbin casing as usual.  You will use normal thread for the top stitching.  Pictured above.

For the first row of shirring sew right over the hem line.  When you are about to meet up to where you started, make a spiral by lining the edge of the presser foot to the first row. (The hem line).  Backstitch at start and finish.  Do this to both leg holes.

Here is the way shirring looks on the inside.  The elastic will start to tighten as you are sewing, but when you spray it with water and iron it the elastic really shrinks up!  (That is my favorite part).  🙂

That’s it my friends!  Finished!   Now go see how cute they look on your little one!

Ruffle Butt Bloomers - {The Ribbon Retreat Blog}

Front view.

Ruffle Butt Bloomers - {The Ribbon Retreat Blog}

Back view.

Ruffle Butt Bloomers - {The Ribbon Retreat Blog}

Side view.

I hope you make some for your little one and and enjoy looking at their ruffle butt as much as I do!

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7 Comments

  1. Lora A
    Posted August 7, 2011 at 9:08 am | Permalink

    These are too cute! Thanks for sharing! I’ve decided to try to make for a friend some rolled roses so that I can make a matching hair fascinator out of the scraps that I had from altering her skirt.

  2. Posted August 7, 2011 at 9:23 am | Permalink

    Very cute!!!

  3. Posted August 7, 2011 at 11:31 am | Permalink

    Adorable!! I am going to have to break out of my sewing comfort zone and try these immediately! Oh, and rolled roses are AWESOME to make with scraps. That way you can have a cute matching bow made out of the same material as the outfit.

  4. Posted August 7, 2011 at 12:38 pm | Permalink

    Very very cute. Thanks for the tutorial.

  5. Michelle Robson
    Posted August 8, 2011 at 7:56 am | Permalink

    I knew those couldn’t be that hard to make!!! I love these tutorials!!!

  6. Posted August 8, 2011 at 9:32 am | Permalink

    these are so cute!

  7. Brittany
    Posted August 17, 2011 at 11:57 pm | Permalink

    Oh my GOSH! I love these! Wish I had a baby girl!

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