I Love Ruffles!

Before I had a daughter, you never would have heard me say, “I love ruffles.”  When it was just “life with three boys” ruffles were the furthest from my mine and I drove past the formal dress shop in town I would be thankful I that I would never have to think about those fancy dresses.  The first time I drove past that same store after Nola Mae was born, my first thought was “Darn it!”

Recently I made a few things with ruffles. Only because I wanted a rainbow dress for Nola Mae that looked like this one my step-mom found on pinterest:

Then I had this great idea…buy a bunch of rainbow fabric with a debit card that I won from the bucket raffles at my cousin’s cancer benefit. My cousin has a nine-year old daughter who was getting an American Doll and would probably like matching skirts with her new doll.  All my life I have said, “I would never make doll clothes!” Well, when a sweet little girl is getting an expensive doll, as her last b-day gift from her daddy, I thought she needed matching skirts!

I searched many sites for ideas and patterns. I found a few patterns that helped me come up with my design. I got the measurements from my cousin’s wife and went to work. The doll skirt was first, because if I made a mistake it would be a small mistake.

I learned a bunch of things while making the doll’s skirt and made the skirt for Ashlee with no mistakes.

 

Then I adjusted my sewing methods  a little more and made a dress for Nola Mae:

 

 

Ruffles are a lot of fun to make! After finishing Nola Mae’s dress I started to look at my fabric stash and started imagining ruffled skirts.  I needed to leave my sewing room because I only have one daughter who would look pretty cute in a ruffled skirt every day of the week and remembered I don’t get much time for sewing because there are other things that need to get done around the house.

Never say, “Never!”