Charming Station
Embroidery
How to make a
Pettiskirt
with a ruffler
January 2012
©2012 Charming Station, all rights reserved
www.CharmingStation.com
Page 1 of 10
How to Make a Pettiskirt
by GiGi and Becky of Charming Station Embroidery
There are lots of ways to make pettiskirts. This tutorial will show you one way but remember that there
are no hard and fast rules. You can adapt this so that it works well for you.
This is a “pattern by suggestion” - you can alter the dimensions we suggest here to fit the little one you
have in mind. This tutorial will make a skirt to fit a child from about 3 to about 5.
If you are a visual learner, please see our YouTube video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqmOkF2ino4
A note about the photos
We started taking photos for this tutorial as Becky was making a pettiskirt for an order. We ended up
having to deliver it before we took all the pictures needed so you will see different colors in some of the
photos.
This is the basic skirt that we will be making. Becky likes to use the same color for the two 6" ruffles
and a contrasting color for the bottom (2") ruffle. She also likes to use glitter satin for the top fabric but
will use spandex or other shiny fabrics that she might have on hand. She also uses printed spandex for
additional flair.
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Page 2 of 10
What you will need
•
nylon tricot chiffon - we order pre-cut rolls and
get 6 inch for the main part of the skirt and two
inch for the trim.
The website is: http://afc-express.com
The rolls pictured here are listed on the website as:
6" Slit Chiffon Roll x 90 yards long
2" Slit Chiffon Roll x 90 yards long
The amount you will need depends entirely on how tightly you ruffle each layer. For the 6 inch
roll, Becky gets about 3 pettiskirts per roll.
You definitely want to use nylon tricot chiffon because it is very soft and ruffles very nicely.
Netting or tulle would be very scratchy and would not be as attractive. Regular chiffon ravels
way too much for this project.
•
satin or spandex (or anything glitzy and shiny) for the top of the skirt. You will fold this in half
and make a casing for the elastic in this piece so it should be reasonably strong.
•
elastic (for the waist) - you will need ½" wide elastic. Measure the waist and add 1 inch. If you
are making these for sale, you can use this chart to gauge the size of elastic. Add 1 inch to the
size you select
Size
2
3
4
5
6
6x
7
8
US
20"
20½"
21"
21½"
22"
22½"
23"
23½"
51cm
52cm
53cm
55cm
56cm
57cm
58cm
60cm
Metric
•
ruffler foot for your sewing machine. You
could ruffle these layers by hand but that
would be very time consuming and probably
not end up very even.
A ruffler looks pretty weird but does one thing
very well. You will put one layer of fabric in
the bottom level and a second layer of fabric
in the upper level. As your machine sews, it
gathers the top level fabric and ruffles it as it
sews it to the bottom layer (all at the same
time).
©2012 Charming Station, all rights reserved
www.CharmingStation.com
Page 3 of 10
•
optional: a serger for finishing seams. Where we use a serger, you can use a zig-zag stitch on
your sewing machine.
•
thread (we use a color to match the chiffon so it doesn’t show too much)
•
ribbon or trim for the front
Getting Started
•
From the fabric you chose for the top of the skirt, cut one piece that is 15 inches wide by the
width of the fabric (42 to 45 inches).
•
To make our frilly, fluffy pettiskirt, you are going to sew ruffles of chiffon along both of the long
edges of this top fabric.
Tip from Becky:
When the chiffon comes off of the roll, the edges
will curl in one particular direction. You want to
set the roll so that the edges are curling up as
shown in this picture. That will allow it to feed
through the ruffler foot. If the curl is going down,
it will slide out of the ruffler foot and make it
harder to sew.
Check the direction of the curl before going on to
the next step here.
Another Tip from Becky:
The rolls of chiffon can be a pain in the you-knowwhat to work with. Becky discovered a simple way
to get the chiffon to feed off of the roll into the
sewing machine that keeps it clean and right
where you need it.
Use a large bowl (like a salad bowl) and place it on
the floor. Put the roll of chiffon in the bowl. That
keeps it from rolling around on the floor and lets it
feed the strip of chiffon up to the table as you
need it for the ruffles.
Make sure that the “curl” on the roll of chiffon is
going “up” as mentioned above.
©2012 Charming Station, all rights reserved
www.CharmingStation.com
•
With your top fabric facing up, slide it into the
bottom level of the ruffler foot.
•
Making sure the curl is “up”, slide the end of
the chiffon into the upper level of the ruffler
foot.
•
If your foot has multiple settings, you may
want to experiment with scrap fabrics first to
see how much ruffling you want. For a
pettiskirt, the more you ruffle, the fluffier it
will be. Settings on the foot control how
much the top fabric will be gathered before a
stitch is made into the other fabric (therefore
how much it will be gathered before it is
tacked down).
•
The stitch length on your sewing machine may
also affect the amount of ruffle associated
with the ruffler foot. Check your manual to be sure.
•
Sew across the entire long edge of the fabric
attaching a ruffle as you go (your foot is going
to do that).
•
You can use both hands to help feed the
fabrics into the foot from the front – do NOT
pull the fabrics in back of the foot. That will
defeat the action of the ruffler.
•
You will be sewing along the edge of both
fabrics.
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Page 4 of 10
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•
As the fabrics feed through make sure the
edge that curls is curling up and feeding
through your ruffler foot.
•
When you get to the end of the top fabric,
remove this from your ruffler foot.
Page 5 of 10
•
Use your scissors to cut the strip of chiffon
even with the end of the top fabric.
•
•
You now have one ruffle across the length of
one of the long edges of the top.
©2012 Charming Station, all rights reserved
This does not have to be completely even
as you will sew across this raw edge a
little later.
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•
Open this first ruffle out. This will now be the
bottom layer.
•
Slip the bottom edge of this ruffle in the
bottom layer of the ruffler foot.
•
Slide the starting edge of the chiffon from the
roll in the top level of the ruffler foot. This
time the second ruffle is being gathered and
added to the bottom edge of the first ruffle.
•
Sew across the entire length of this edge
•
When you get to the end of this row, trim the
chiffon with scissors even with the top and
first ruffle.
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Page 6 of 10
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•
You should now have two ruffles along one
edge of your top fabric.
•
Now repeat these steps to sew two ruffles on
to the other long edge of the top fabric.
•
Make sure the top fabric is right-side up and in
the bottom level of the ruffler.
•
Make sure the chiffon is in the top level of the
ruffler.
•
Sew along the whole length of the top and
then trim with scissors.
•
Repeat to add the second ruffle to the first
one as before.
•
When you have added two ruffles your piece
will look like this.
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Page 7 of 10
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•
At this point, Becky switches to her Serger
•
If you don’t have a serger, put a regular
presser foot on your sewing machine and set it
to a zig zag stitch.
•
To prevent raveling, serge or zig zag long both
edges of the top fabric where you attached
the first ruffle.
•
Fold the raw edges together the way you see
it here.
•
Serge or zig zag a seam from edge to edge
(from the end of the first ruffle all the way
down to the edge of the last ruffle)
•
Now fold your skirt in half with the wrong
sides together (so that it looks like this
picture).
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Page 8 of 10
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•
On the sewing machine, use a regular straight
stitch to sew a seam about 1 to 1½" inches
from the folded edge. This is going to be the
casing for the elastic.
•
Leave an opening in this casing that will allow
you to thread the elastic through.
•
You will now add the bottom ruffle to the
skirt.
Tip from Becky
For the 2 inch roll, Becky likes to grab a
wooden spatula and put it in the roll as show
here. This allows the chiffon to feed off the
roll without it rolling all around the floor.
•
Put the ruffler foot back on the sewing
machine.
•
Slide the edge of the top layer of ruffle into
the bottom level of the ruffler foot.
•
Slide the edge of the 2 inch chiffon into the
top level of the ruffler.
•
This time, sew down the middle of the two
inch strip rather than along the edge. This
creates a double ruffle across the bottom of
the skirt.
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Page 9 of 10
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•
From the inside use a safety pin to thread the
elastic through the casing you created.
•
If your little one is present you might like to
check the waist at this point by trying the skirt
on. When you have the elastic the proper
length, stitch the loose ends of the elastic
together.
Page 10 of 10
Your pettiskirt is basically finished at this point. You can add ribbon like you see here or even glue on
rhinestones or crystals to add more bling.
©2012 Charming Station, all rights reserved