Homemade Ruffled Shirt

Finish each ruffle with a different color thread.

You can transform a plain shirt into a beautiful and feminine ruffled top for an inexpensive wardrobe makeover. Cover up the stains on a child’s favorite shirt with a mass of organza ruffles, or add just a collar of ruffles to one of your own ordinary T-shirts for a little embellishment. You can use an organza fabric in a single color that coordinates with the shirt, or use different contrast colors to show off your unique and colorful personality.

Things You'll Need

• Plain shirt
• Organza fabric
• Sewing machine
• Thread
• Small, sharp scissors
• Straight pins

Instructions

1. Lay the plain shirt on your work surface. You can use a tank top, T-shirt or long-sleeved shirt for this project. Choose a stretchy cotton shirt for maximum ruffles. Measure the circumference of the shirt’s neckline.

2. Multiply the neckline circumference by 1.5 and cut a strip of organza fabric to this length by 1 5/8 inches wide.

3. Lay one long edge of the strip in front of you and measure about 1/8-inch upward. Set the sewing machine to the smallest available zigzag stitch and sew along the long edge, about 1/8-inch from the edge. Pull firmly on the organza as you sew. When the stitching is completed, the organza will contract into a length of ruffles.

4. Use the small, sharp scissors to trim off the edge of the organza beyond the stitching.

5. Pin the ruffle around the neckline of the shirt, pulling on the stretchy shirt fabric to make the ruffle fit. Sew the ruffle in place with a running stitch.

6. Measure the width across the front of the shirt, multiply the measurement by 1.5 and cut strips of the organza fabric to this length by 1 5/8-inch wide. Measure the length of the shirt and cut one strip for every one inch of length.

7. Sew a zigzag stitch along one long edge of each strip in the same manner as the neckline strip.

8. Pin one ruffle across the front of the shirt about one inch beneath the neckline. Stretch the shirt fabric to make the ruffle fit between the left and right side seams and sew it in place.

9. Measure down one inch and pin another strip to the shirt, stretching the shirt fabric as you work. Sew the strip in place and then repeat to attach each ruffle to the shirt.

Tips & Warnings

• Add a little bit of color to white organza ruffles by sewing the zigzag stitch with different color threads.

References

• Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-Shirt; Megan Nicolay