Made By Lex » ruffles

Guest Blogger- Blue Eyed Freckle

Alexis — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 23:15:37 +0000

A few weeks ago I discovered Blue Eyed Freckle. And Fell. In. LOVE.

Meet Katie.

She’s awesome and incredibly inspiring and artistic. So creatively stimulating that I had to show you all her website. She’s guestposting here today. Then GO GO GO and check out the amazing things she does!

Ruffled Wall Décor Tutorial

This project was inspired by a wall mural I created with my visual manager while working at Anthropologie in Geneva, IL. (photos below are of the original piece I created)

To create this version, I did the following:

MATERIALS:

-Approx 1 yd worth of 1 1/2-2 in. wide strips of various FABRICS or PAPERS

-Large paper for backing (butcher paper, etc—I used a roll of pinkish paper I found at Lowes)

-glue gun

-tape and tacs

-sewing machine

1. I cut strips out of fabrics with different textures and dyed some of them to have more varied hue.

2. I pleated/ruffled them on my sewing machine (I don’t ever pin beforehand, I just pleat or ruffle as I go, so that I can get a lot done very fast.)

3.I started to place them on the paper into different organic shapes, playing with the color and line as I went.

4. I hot-glued the strips down onto the paper, and then cut them out, creating a scallop around the edges.

5. To put them on the wall, I first put painter’s masking tape on the back. I then positioned them on the wall, constantly stepping back to decide if the flow of shapes was pleasing to the eye.

6. I then attached them to the wall with thumb tacks! Done!

Don’t forget to enter for the giveaway!

Valentino Inspired Ruffle Clutch

Alexis — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:44:14 +0000

I’m super excited to show you this tutorial! I was inspired to do this because my husband and I go on a date every 10 days, or so. And every time we go out I carry my big mom purse with us and I wanted something smaller to take out. Then I saw Valentino’s Spring/Summer collection and was blown away buy the texture and movement of all of the line. You should check it out.

So I thought I’d do a clutch inspired by the collection.

Here’s how!

Start out with two pieces of jersey, like an old shirt or sweatpants or any other thick flexible material you have, each cut 17 x 27.

Lay them on top of one another.

For all the detailing, I used some leftover silk chiffon I had. You really could use anything, but I wanted a dressier look so I went for it! You’re gonna need a lot!

Find the center of your clutch, where it will be folded on the bottom. You can mark it with a pen or pins. Begin sewing from down there. Make sure your jersey is doubled and you’re sewing through both layers.

What I started doing is one of row of heavy pleats.

With each row I alternated techniques. I would do ruffles, then more pleats, then heavy stitching over fabric, a few braids, some rosettes, etc… You want it to be random and full. Don’t skimp on the fabric or else it will look really homemade. I also didn’t go in straight lines, necessarily. I worked in different motions.

Don’t worry about making anything look symmetrical. I think there’s so much beauty in the randomness. Do both sides of the jersey piece. When you’re done, you’ll have one large, flat piece that looks like, your won version, of this.

Fold it inside out, in half. Then sew the two side together.

Turn it right side out again.

Now for the liner. I used this fun peacock blue satin. Cut it the same size as your original piece.

Fold it in half and sew the sides toghether.

Insert it into your clutch.

Get some of your extra fabric and make some bias tape.

Pin it all the way around the clutch, making sure that the outside and the liner are in the tape. Stitch it closed.

I added a snap to the center. You could also do a button with some elastic or a zipper.

Then, go out and own it.

Thanks to my sister, Ana for some great modeling!! If you do a clutch inspired by this tutorial, PLEASE go add it to the Flickr Group. I love being inspired by seeing what you do and I’m sure others do, too! Have a great day!

New to the Store

Alexis — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:14:29 +0000

I’ve begun adding my new T-shirt to my Etsy Store. Here’s a preview…

This one is a white on white shirt. For those of you that know me by know, you know it’s one of my favorite looks.

This one is a hand dyed, gunmetal grey with lots of great details.

This pink shirt has asymmetrical sailor striped pleats.

Go check out more pictures of them and stay tuned for lots more to come.

And just to keep you on your toes, here’s a teaser for a great tutorial I’m finishing up for this AMAZING clutch.

Mama’s Got A New Dress

Alexis — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:43:00 +0000

Who needs a pretty new dress?
Let’s get started with an easy tutorial with things you probably have laying around.
I started with an old T-shirt and a yard of coordinating fabric. Originally I was going to use an old men’s shirt for the skirt part, but this fabric matched too well to not use it.

Find your natural waist line and cut the shirt at that point. Save the scraps!

Then I cut out a few more scraps. I cut out a piece from my skirt fabric and a piece of coordinating cream chiffon.

Fold them in half and ruffle them.

Now, I knew that on this T shirt adding a lot of detail would weight it down a lot. So I added a piece of lightweight interfacing to the inside of the shirt.

Now add your first layer of the ruffle bib. Start with the outer layer. You may want to lay them all out before hand so you can mark where they will need to be sewn. Pin the first layer in place then stitch.

Add the second. Pin then sew.

Repeat with the third.

I wanted the front to look completed so I added a button strip. I just cut this off another shirt. But you could create one by adding piece of fabric then sewing on some old buttons.

I ironed the edges in then pinned it in the center.

After that, fold it over the top of the shirt and pin down. Then stitch it in place.

Determine the length you want your skirt to be. Before attaching it to the top I like to hem it. I did a wide hem.

Here’s another little extra step I did. I really wanted to bring the color of the dark top down to the bottom so it would look really put together and well thought out. So on the under side of the skirt I added a little dark grey hem tape just peeping out. It really made this dress look more complete.

Very slightly ruffle the top of your skirt. Then stitch the ends together to create your skirt piece.

Now it’s time to attach it to the top. Let me explain what I’m going to do here first so these next steps make more sense. I wanted to create a drawstring waistline so you could adjust it for your own waist without adding a zipper. So to do that you need to leave an overhand as shown on the inside of the shirt. Pin and sew the skirt to the top.

Now fold that flap over and Pin it to the insde of the skirt. Stitch it closed.

Once you turn it right side out, this is what it will look like. You now have a little pocket to pull a drawstring through.

On the side seam, create two small holes for your drawstring. I just used my seam ripper.

Grab whatever you want to use for your drawstring and pull it all the way through.

And now you’re done!

It’s perfect with my grey boots!

I really love the ruffle bib detail. And I think the button strip adds soo much to it.

Isn’t it so Anthropologie?

Now go make yourself a new dress!!

Ruffles, Ruffles and More Ruffles Shirt Refashion

Alexis — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:36:00 +0000

I had this nice shirt that I really liked that had a couple of stains on it. I really didn’t want to throw it out. So I decided to do a ruffle front.

Here’s how it turned out! I’m IN LOVE with it. I did 3 different tones of white. I love tone on tones because it’s more interesting than just one flat color.
Here are the ruffle up close in all their glory.

Here’s an outfit I think it would look great with. The ruffles will soften and girl-ify the look of the Western boots.

I’m so happy now because I have so many shirt with stains on the front and I like tearing them up and using them for other things, but now I have another way to repurpose them. I think a black/grey would look awesome, too!