Toddler Shawl Tutorial

I had some fabric left over from a recent custom order so I decided to make a little something for my daughters.  There was enough to make 2 ruffled skirts but when I asked my oldest daughter if she wanted one, she promptly pouted and said no. We've been trying to teach her that her word is her word...so when she told me no, I said "ok, I'll just make one for your sister then."

So with the fabric I would have made the second skirt with...well, I wasn't sure what to do with it!

Until my 2 year old snagged a piece of the remnants and threw it over her shoulders.

A cute little ruffly, summery shawl!! 

I even have a bit of a tutorial but trust me, it's not hard! The hardest part (and I think any seamstress would agree) is getting the ruffles to all lay straight and flat.

Fold your fabric in half length wise and cut it to these measurements:

Cut a curve along the open sides. Hem the top (the longest edge) and the curved sides. This is a knit fabric, so it doesn't fray. I did NOT hem the bottom. I simply trimmed off the excess fabric under the last ruffle.  When you're measuring this type of fabric, remember that each ruffle is one inch long. So 10 ruffles = 10". This really helps keep a straight line when you're cutting down the length of a ruffle.

Once your edges are hemmed, drape it on your DD and decide where you want the ribbon ties to be. Ours ended up being 7-8" up from the bottom corners.  

We did a quick photo shoot this morning (before it reached today's high of 101*)...this is a time of day when my Annie does not like to be away from her "goggie." In most of the photos, I let her hang on to it...but nearing the end, I asked her to let me hold it for just a minute.

If you've never worked with ruffle fabric before, it can be tricky just getting the ruffles to lay flat (so they don't fold up in the seams you sew) and keeping them aligned in a seam.  I learned my lesson after my first couple of tries and I am happy to say that these seams lined up nicely!!  I figured out that you HAVE TO PIN EVERY SINGLE RUFFLE!!  It is time consuming but you don't want to seam rip this stuff as it will rip holes very easily. (Trust me, I KNOW.) So take the time to pin each ruffle. You'll be glad you did.

What have you been making??