For the final Cascade skirt hack that I will be sharing, I saved my favorite for last. It’s a ruffle hem! A ruffle hem on a wrap skirt is just *chef kiss*. And it works so well on the Cascade. Here, I’ll be showing it on the knee length version, but there are so many different ways to do this, including trying it out on the longer high-low hem. Hopefully, my tutorial here provides you with the general steps you need, and you can interpret it however way you want!
First, we need to take some measurements and do some math.
Take your front skirt pattern piece and measure the length of the curved hem. Multiple this number by 2. We will now refer to this as measurement “X“.
Now measure the hem of the back skirt piece, and multiple that number by 2. This will now be measurement “Y“.
(PS – I’m not worrying about seam allowance here. It’s a minor difference when it comes to the final measurements)
Math time : measurements X + Y = ” T ” (or total skirt hem)
Now decide how full you want your gathers to be. Most gathers are either 1.5x or 2x. 2x gathers will be fuller, but these gathered pieces will already be long, and 2x will be even longer. So you may want to go less than 2x.I believe i went somewhere in the middle, like 1.7x.
So T x 1.5 or T x 2 = “R” (ruffle length total)
Then divide “R” by the number of pattern pieces you want to piece together for your ruffle. I went with 6. If you are making the longer high-low hem, you will need to divide it into even more pieces.
So R / 6 = L (ruffle pattern piece length)
Now we need to make the pattern pieces for the ruffles. Create a rectangle that is measurement “L” long, and however wide you want your ruffle to be (plus 5/8″ seam allowance and 1/2″ hem allowance). I went with 6″ wide.
Create a second rectangle with the same measurements.
Leave one rectangle as-is. On the second rectangle, we need to create a tapered edge for end of the curved hem.
Measure down 5/8″ along one of the short ends of the rectangle. Draw a curved line until it meets the long edge of the rectangle.
Cut off the excess, so it now looks like this.
Here are your two ruffle pattern pieces. You will cut 4 of the straight rectangle (or more if you chose to divide it into more), and cut 2 of the tapered one (you will always only have two tapered).
So four fabric pieces look like this.
With right sides together, sew all pieces together, with the two tapered pieces on the ends. Press, and finish the raw edges with your preferred method.
Along the bottom edge (the curved part of the tapered pieces), hem the entire ruffle using a rolled hem (or however you would like. Just remember that the hem allowance is 1/2″). If you need help with sewing a rolled hem, there are two tutorials as part of this sewalong. Find them here and here.
Now set your machine to a long basting straight stitch. Along the raw edge, sew two rows of basting stitches on each ruffle panel, 5/8″ from the raw edge and 1/4″ from the raw edge. So from end to seam, seam to seam, etc. Each panel should have its own rows of basting stitches. Leave thread tails long for easy gathering.
Assemble your skirt side seams (and pickets if you are adding them), and lay your skirt open with right side of the fabric facing up.
Find and mark the center back on your skirt hem. You also need to find the center mark of the ruffle piece. If you did 6 panels total, it will be the middle of the five seams.
lining up the raw edges and with right sides of the fabric together, match up the center of the ruffle with the center back of the skirt.
Now its time to start gathering by gently pulling on the two loose thread ends and using your fingers to push and gather the fabric. You swill do this with each set of basting stitches, gathering each panel as you go.
I’m not going to lie, this is the most tedious part. Making sure each panel is gathered evenly. But keep going until the entire gahtered ruffle lines up with the edge of the skirt. Adjust as needed.
At the ends/top of the skirt, keep the edge of the tapered ruffle 5/8″ down from the waistband.
Once every thing is lined up and you are satisfied with your gathers, pin in place and sew together 5/8″ from the raw edge.
Finish your raw edge with your preferred method.
Press the seam allowance towards your skirt. And the finish up the sewing, adding the waistband, etc.
And that’s it! I absolutely adore this version.
I want you see how you would interpret this hack! You can go with a shorter ruffle a wider ruffle. Add a ruffle to the high-low hem. Shorten the skirt and and a really wide ruffle with an extreme taper to the end. So many ways to interpret it!
OOKING FOR MORE CASCADE POSTS?
- How to Choose Between Cascade and Cascade Curve
- Sewalong : pockets and side seams
- Sewalong : french side seams (optional)
- Sewalong : rolled hem
- Sewalong : bonus hemming method – ban-roll hem
- Sewalong : optional lining
- Sewalong : tie waistband
- Sewalong : button waistband
- Hack : straight hem
- Hack : mini ballet skirt
- Hack: ruffle hem (this post!)
DON’T HAVE THE PATTERN YET?
