Ruffle Sleeve Tutorial

Happy Friday!  I’m super excited today (because Friday, duh) but mostly because today is the start of something really exciting!!  I’ve invited a few talented sewists to regularly guest blog here over the next year!  These ladies are always sewing up awesome pattern mods and mashes so I wanted to share them with all of you!  After planning to do this “someday”, Audrey from Skirt Fixation emailed me and finally got me off my butt and motivated me to make it happen!  I’m so happy that she did and that everyone else agreed to join the party too.  You guys are in for some fantastic tutorials!

So here’s the first guest post, from Audrey herself, with a very cute and trendy ruffle sleeve tutorial.  Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey everyone, it’s Audrey from Skirt Fixation. I’m suuuuper excited to be here because I’m pretty much one one the founding members of the Hey June Fan Girl Club! Today I’ve got a super quick and easy, tutorial on how to add ruffle sleeves to the Key Largo Top. Ruffle sleeves are really big right now…and once you try them you’ll know why!

 

First up is a little measuring. Don’t sweat, it’s only a rectangle. Figure out how long you want your ruffle to be and add 1″ for the seam allowance. I wanted my ruffle to end right at my elbow, so for me this measurement was 6″ exactly. This is the height of the ruffle rectangle. The width of the ruffle rectangle will be double the width of your sleeve piece at the hem. My sleeve hem is 15″, so I cut out 2 rectangles, 6″ x 30″.

 

Next hem the ruffle. I always love getting the hem out of the way at the beginning instead of saving it until the end! Just like in the regular Key Largo pattern, press up 1/4″ to the wrong side, and then another 1/4″ to the wrong side. Then edgestitch along the fold.

 

Next, sew a gathering stitch 1/4″ from the edge across the top of the ruffle. For really pretty, even ruffles, sew another gathering stitch 3/4″ from the edge of the top.

 

Now pull the ends of those gathering stitches until the width of the ruffle is the same as the width of the bottom of the sleeve.

 

With the right sides together, pin the ruffle to the bottom of the sleeve matching the raw edges at the top of the ruffle to the bottom of the sleeve.

Carefully sew these two together with a 1/2″ seam allowance. I prefer to put the ruffle down against my feed dogs to help pull it along evenly. But you do have to check that none of the ruffle is folded down (or has crept up) into the seam. After I’ve sewn this seam and checked it, I go ahead and zig zag the two raw edges to keep this seam just as pretty as the rest of the Key Largo on the inside. Press this seam up toward the sleeve.

Now continue assembling the Key Largo Top according to the fantastic instructions, treating the ruffle and the sleeve all as one piece, and in no time you’ll be swooping around with ruffles on your sleeves too!

 

If you’d like to see my comparison of the Key Largo Top sewn in 3 different types of fabric, please visit me over at Skirt Fixation!

If you don’t own the Key Largo Top yet what are you waiting for? Grab your copy today!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you so much Audrey!  ps: did she nail that fabric choice or what?  Perfect!!