Folded Pleated Ruffles-Sewing 101

 

Today we are going to talk about pleats:

I love pleats almost as much as pintucks.  Here are some pleated ruffle projects of mine you may have  missed:

Pleated ruffle cardi, Ruffled collar cardi,

Bird skirt, and Knock-off Wrap Dress

Are you ready for today's lesson?

 (check out the old lessons HERE)

 Step 1: Pick some fabric (my favorite part).  Measure your waist and the desired length of the skirt.  Cut 2 pieces of fabric:
waist meaurement (wide) and the desired length + 1/2 inches 


Step 2: Now please go follow the directions from week 3 to sew your skirt. Do not sew the bottom hem.

 Step 3: cut strips 4 inches wide (this will give you about 1.5 inch ruffle so adjust width according you your preference). Depending on the size of the skirt, you'll need 3-4 of these. 
(side note to all you seamstresses out there, feel free to cut your strips on the bias, but if your a newbie, we haven't even talked about "bias" yet so just cut as normal-I did and it turned out fine)

 Step 4: Sew the strips  (right sides together) so they make a super long strips.  Press seam open.

 Step 5: Fold strip in half and press.

Step 6:  If you are a perfectionist, with a sewing marker and a ruler mark every inch.  Then fold and pin.  If you are more a "close-enough" type person, feel free to "eye-ball it".  Pin to right side of bottom of the skirt.

 Step 7: Sew into place, but leave several inches open, where you will connect the ends.  I really hope this next part makes sense.

 Step 8: Unfold each end and sew (right sides together) the 2 pieces.  Press seam open.
 Step 9: Fold it in half and reform pleats.

It should look like this.

 Step 10: Finish ends.  If you don't have a serger, use a zig-zag stitch.

 Step 11:  Press seam towards the skirt.

Step 12: Very carefully top-stitch.

You are done!  Admire your work!

To see where I link up or to add your party, please click here.


I am thrilled to be:

40 by 40 # 2-Wear Lipstick for 30 days

 I have completed #2 on my 40 by 40 list (read the entire list here). "Wear lipstick everyday I leave the house for 30 days".  


I used to wear lipstick. I was even one of those girls that carried it around and would reapply as needed throughout  the day.  However, sometime in the past 13 years, I all but stopped wearing it.  Maybe I stopped when I starting having babies. (I couldn't help myself from kissing there little heads all the time and didn't want to cover them in lipstick).  Or maybe I stopped when I quit work and just ran around w/ little kids all day. (Honestly, there were many days when my kids were small that I was happy if I managed to take a shower) I also never quite found the right shade and was tired of spending money on the wrong ones.


One of my goals is to be 40 and fabulous, not 40 and frumpy and so I set the goal to wear lipstick every time I left the house for 30 days.  Mary Kay hooked me up and sent me 17 tubes of lipsticks! How fun is that?

I have to admit that I forgot a few times, but I was about 95% faithful. Here's what I learned during this challenge:


1.  Raisenberry looks fabulous on me ( I also really like nutmeg)
2.  I have big teeth and thin lips and so a little lipstick makes a big difference.
3. Since I used to only wear it on special occasions, it made me feel a little special every day.
4.  Wearing lipstick made me a little more glamorous and sexy. 
5.  Wearing lipstick requires very little effort.
6.  You can give yourself a virtual makeover  here.  It's pretty fun. You can try out all the make-up and they even had about 15 pages of hairstyles to try out (I even tried out being a blonde-but it wasn't for me).  What do you think of this hair style on me?

So what about you-are you afraid to leave the house w/out your full "face" on or could you use a little boost in the glamour department?

To see where I link up or to add your party, please click here.

Linky # 37 Will Craft for High Wire Living

This week's sponsor is The High Wire Shop.  Elizabeth is the woman behind the etsy shop and here's why she loves making jewelry:

I just started it up at the beginning of January and have been LOVING making jewelry pieces that are both beautiful and meaningful to the people who order them. For me, personalized jewelry like this is very meaningful. I have necklaces with my sons' and husband's names/initial on them that I wear regularly and love, and it is really satisfying to me to be able to create something so special for someone else. It's also a fun outlet to have as a stay at home mom of 2 boys (ages 3.5 and 1) and wife of a busy medical student! I love creating new designs and am always open to custom orders.

Here are some of my favorites from her shop.(Mother's Day is just a few weeks away-hint, hint)

She is giving away $20 towards anything in her shop. To enter:

 (enter as many or few as you'd like):
1. Link up a project (1 entry/ project)
2.  Like  High-Wire Living on FB
3. Follow her blog.
4. Leave a comment telling me your fav from her shop.
4. Follow Tales of a Trophy Wife by :    

The Most Viewed link last week was by Setting for Four: 



I can't wait to see what you've all been up to.  I'm going to go hang out w/ a bunch of 11-year-old Boy Scouts, and when I return I will be more than ready for some awesomeness from all of you.


Good Luck! Remember you only need to add your e-mail if you'd like to be included in my weekly reminder e-mails-otherwise skip that step).

Winner and Features

I so appreciate everyone for linking up  and sharing your awesomeness. Here are my top five:


My Covered Bridge started out w/ this super duper ugly bathroom (mauve tub, gold fixtures,mirrored walls, brown toilet, hunting wall paper) and created a gorgeous bathroom (go check it out).

Crafty Journal taught us how to make sweet origami baskets. You should all just pin this now, b/c I'm sure that at some point we will all need to make some little baskets.

I think these lace bowls by Stacy Vaughn are just gorgeous!

Nothing is cuter than baby feet-unless you cover them in these boots by House of Estrela.  I love the bows on the back.

And finally, Gramma Luvlee is the type of Grandma I want to be. She holds a camp for her grand kids featuring such fun themes as Dinosaurs and Royalty. She went all out-they are amazing!

I'd be honored if you grabbed a button.

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Random.org pick #33 Moose Mouse Creations.  Congrats you win $30 credit to Fairytale stitches! Please contact her directly at her shop.


Join as back here @ 5:00 pm CST.

Knock-Off Monday: Wrap Dresses

My daughter and I needed some new clothes.  We decided to go window shopping on line and pin all of our favorites-"pindowshopping".  Then we went and bought fabric and patterns to achieve the looks for less. Checkout our board here.  Please join me every Monday (until I get bored) to see me knock-off the latest fashions.

I love a good wrap dress.  Figuring flattering and timeless-here are 2 inspirations:

Gap $60

Tucker $370

I found this pattern: McCalls 6024 $.99



I started w/ view C (the black and white one), but the flounce looked stupid-I looked like a clown and that's just not what I was going for.  It might have worked better w/ a thinner fabric, but I picked it all out and and sewed the facing back on w/out the flounce.  I've got to say, that I'm pretty pleased w/ the results.  The pattern was pretty straight forward, I wouldn't tackle it for your first sewing project, but if you are an intermediate seamstress give it a try. FYI: I added a pleated ruffle to the bottom.

Have you ever worn a wrap dress outside when the breeze blew your dress wide open?  EMBARRASSING! Not wanting to flash my local congregation, I took some hot pink satin and made a simple skirt (I made it using this technique here).  Also check out the paint on my leg.  I didn't notice it until my hubby pointed it out in church.  I'm starting a new trend:)

FYI: I'm doing a pleated ruffle skirt lesson for my Sewing 101 on Friday. My sister is at this very minute picking up my new niece in Korea and I want to make here a skirt.

To see where I link up or to add your party, please click here.

I so appreciate being featured by: