[Kim]

I want to sew a ruffle of organza on the hem of the dress. There doesn’t seam to be a stretch to it. Do I cut it salvage to salvage or it doesn’t matter?

[Nicole]

If you are ruffling it,thus no pressure,it should not matter if you cut with the weft or the warp.

Are you using synthetic organza? That stuff frays if you look at it,I would strongly suggest neatening the edges before gathering.

Good luck!

[with love Heidi]

I don’t think it matters. I agree with Nicole, neaten the edges. i have made a number of petiskirts form fraying material (very difficult to find the nylon chiffon here 🙁 )(and I have done a rolled hem on the edge of the ruffle. You may need a larger hem than a plain rolled of the fabric is frays very easily..

[Kim]

I would like to sew a can-can ruffle on the hem of the skirt from the organza. I think I would finish the two long edges maybe with a rolled hem stitch. I’m not sure how to attach it to the silk hem of the dress.

[Nicole]

A zigzag will do a good job too.

May I suggest adding them to a Lazy Day’s type petticoat to slip underneath. I would be worried the organza may ‘die’ whilst the silk dress is still good.

[with love Heidi]

I’ve attached them 4 ways.

1. Finish edges Sew a large basting stitch a bit above the seam line and then pull the stitches to gather. Sew the ruffle on ust below the gathering with a regular length straight stitch. Most time consuming but you have the most control. I’ve made pettiskirts using only this method. I’ve also made a tired circle skirt for myself using this method, it was 13m around the bottom layer.

2. Finish edges. Use a gathering foot, fabric to be gathered on the bottom and straight fabric on the top, and gather and sew in one step.

3. Finish edges. Use a ruffler foot to sew the ruffle stip to the main skirt in one step. The ruffle is on top of the main fabric. I prefer the ruffler over the gathering foot as I can moniter the fabric as it ruffles, as the ruffle is formed on top. An expensive foot but well worth the investment if your going to do more than a few ruffles.

4.If you have a overlocker/serger and you want to attach the ruffle by its edge, it won’t work if you want the ruffle line to be in the centre of the ruffle fabric. I use a gathering attachment for my overlocker, but google might be able to show you how without one.

Finish the edge thats not be be gathered. Put on the gathering attachment, follow the instructions, reset your dials. Fabric to be gathered on the bottom, main fabric on the top. Sew. Go back and check you have caught all the fabric to be gathered. If not reset the machine to regular serging and close up the holes. I often sew the ruffle hem either up or down with a regular straight stitch on my sewing machine.

hope this helps

[needlewoman]

Wow, H. Sounds amazing!!

[Kim]

Thank you for all of the help. I did search Google and Pinterest etc. for tutorials before I asked all of you. I also ordered the book by Mary Adams the Party Dress Book. That is where I saw the can-can ruffle ( both of the outside edges are finished then one edge has the gathering stitches and sews onto the dress) but there are no directions on how to sew it on. She uses mostly ruffles that look like they are sewn through the center of the ruffle then sewn to the dress on the outside of the dress. I am sewing a formal type dress, so I think I may end up adding the ruffle like piping on them hem. I’ll have to take scraps and figure it out. I just don’t want to ruin the hem of the silk dress. Nicole that’s a good idea to attach the ruffle to a separate piece, but I am concerned that the ruffle will not hang even below the dress ( I think you would like Mary Adam’s book and her website maryadamsthedress.com). Heidi I will work through your suggestions too. I do have a serger so I will need to figure out which stitch to use if I sew it to the hem of the dress.

[Nicole]

I would add a hem facing and sandwich the ruffle between the two.

Off to check out the link for the book,thank you!

[Nicole]

Or baste the ruffle on top of the finished hem and then topstitch it in place?

[with love Heidi]

I like Nicole’s idea of the second skirt. I have made a badminton dress with a lining and added a basic ruffle to the lining and it seems to hand fine. I’ll take and post some pictures. If you need to sew the ruffle throught hte middle I would use the first method as this takes a lot of the guess work out. If you use the serger/ruffler/gathering foot make sure you do a few practice runs and still cut your ruffle longer quite a bit longer than you think need.

[Kim]

At the bottom of the hem, I sewed on the piping, then the organza ruffle, then the hem facing. I read that the 2 inch hem is to give the hem some weight. Would I sew the 2 inch hem as suggested or would I sew a narrow one?

[Nicole]

I would,it would possibly help stabilise it.

[Kim]

I pressed the hem facing on the iron’s silk setting, pinned with silk needles, smoothed the fabric as I hand sewed it, picked up just a couple threads on the dress fabric and used one strand of thread but I can see every stitch. The hem is even, but I think the ruffle is pulling on the 2 inch hem.