Ruffle Jeans Tutorial

 

Adding a ruffle to the bottom of your kiddo's jeans is a simple way to get more life out of jeans that may be getting short, but still fit. It is also a really cute way to dress up an outfit and give it more of a "boutiquey" look. If you are new to sewing, or even if you have never sewn anything in your life, you can do this! Keep reading and I will show you how.

 

You will need:

- Sewing machine

- Fabric scraps- less than 1/4 yrd

- Pants or jeans

- Scissors (rotary cutter optional)

- Ruler or measuring tape (not shown)

-Pins
Use 1/4 inch seam allowance when sewing

 

First you will need to determine how long you want your ruffle and trim your jeans. Even if your jeans are a couple of inches too short already, at the very least you need to trim the very bottom hem. This will be too thick to sew through. In my case, the jeans I was using were already the perfect length so I cut a few inches off to add my ruffle.

 

I have decided that I want a 3 inch ruffle on the bottom of my jeans. In my opinion, a ruffle too wide looks silly. If I am making single ruffle jeans I never go wider than 3 inches. Do not cut this measurement!

I want my ruffles 3 inches long. So, I am going to double this measurement and add 1/2 inch to come up with my length.

To get the width, measure the width of each pant leg (mine are 6 inches wide), times by 3 and add 1/2 inch.

My measurements:

3 inches (desired length of ruffle) X 2 + .5 = 6.5 inches

6 inches (the width of my pant leg lying flat) X 3 + .5 = 18.5 inches

You can make your fabric lengths longer if you like your ruffles fuller. I don't like mine too "floofy".

I have cut two pieces of fabric 6.5 by 18.5 inches (one for each leg).

Don't be scared, that is the end of the math lesson.

 

Fold your fabric in half lengthwise and press.

 

 

Open up your fabric again (you can see that nice ironed crease). Right sides together sew your fabric down the short end. Do this with both pieces.

Now this is what you have. Two tubes.

 

Refold your fabric along those nice creases again so now you have two short tubes. 

 

Now you want to set your sewing machine to the longest stitch possible. You are going to sew two lines of gathering stitches so you can gather your ruffles. I like to start and stop on each side of the crease but you can start wherever you wish. Sew one line of stitches about 1/8 inch in and then another 1/2 inch in. Do not backstitch at the start or end of your sewing. We will want to pull on these threads.Do this with both tubes.

 

Now, take your two top threads and gently pull, pushing the fabric down with your other hand to create gathers. Do this gently or your threads may break! Do this with both tubes.

 

With the your jeans right side out pin your ruffle around the bottom of the leg, raw edges together. I like to mark quarter marks on my pant leg and ruffle fabric to make sure my ruffles are even. You can eyeball it too.

Sew your ruffle to your jean being careful not to sew over your pins!

 

Pull out those gathering stitches and then run a zig zag stitch around the raw edge. This will prevent your fabrics from fraying in the wash.

 

Flip your ruffle down, press your seam up towards your jeans and topstitch about 1/8 inch up from your ruffle.

 

You did it! Cute!

If you like the look of a double ruffle, I will put a tutorial for that up in the coming weeks.

If you are interested in making the top, it was made using the Miss Madeline dress pattern which can be found at You Can Make This.