Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Girls Jeans with Ribbons and Ruffles

The first day of school is quickly approaching.  I like my girls to have a special first day of school outfit.  When my eldest was in preschool it was easy to find her something way cute for a good price.  But she grew up a little and went to kindergarten and moved into the big girl section of clothes.  I discovered something.  For the most part I HATE the big girl section of clothes.  (Is is just me?) My 6 yr old is still a little girl but they want her to dress like a 14 yr old slut. Sorry I am just not into that.  So last year finding a first day of school outfit was very very difficult and I only settled with what she got.
Not bad but I didn't love it.  So this year I am planning ahead of time and I have made her and her sister the cutest little outfits.  Today I am going to show you the jeans.
I LOVE them.  So if you want to make some too here's how you do it.

Start off by finding an old pair of jeans that still fit in the waist but not in the length.  Cut off the bottom of the jeans about 3 inches above where you want the bottom of your ruffle to hit.  I wanted capri length instead of pant length because it is still so warm outside.
Now decide how many ribbons you want to add and lay them out and play with them. See how many inches up the top of your top ribbon will be.  Now unpick that much plus a little extra for wiggle room.
Now get a length of ribbon to fit around your pant leg and pin it on.  Measuring of course to make sure it is even.

Now sew your ribbon on.  Make sure that you sew to the ends of the seems and don't sew the seems flat.


Now repeat with your remaining ribbon.


Now close those seems back up.  Sew down the line that is left from the original seem and then sew a zig zag down the edge. (Sorry the purple thread I used doesn't really show up well.)

Now that part is all done and you can add a darling ruffle.  Now I was researching how others added their ruffles and I ran across the most perfect tutorial at From An Igloo. it is so perfect I am going to send you over there.  Her tutorial makes the ruffle not only way cute but also a very good quality.  The only change I made was preference.  I wanted my ruffle a bit fuller so I tripled my measurement of the circumference of the bottom of the jeans.  My younger daughter's jean leg circumference was 10 inches so I cut my strip 30 inches long.  I thought it was perfect.
I am so happy with they way these jeans turned out. 

I hope you like them as much as I do.

Next week I will show you the shirt I made to go with them.  You should be excited.

Featured on:
U Create
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Somewhat Simple

14 comments:

Janae said...

What a cute idea! I want to try it. Paisley refuses to wear jeans but maybe I could find a pair for Regan!

Ashley said...

Those are super cute ruffle jeans. Great job!

Rachel J said...

aw, these are cute, and super handy because I agree with you that a lot of kids clothes are just too mature for them.

Nicole@Thrifty Decorating said...

Saw this on UCreate...awesome!! I reposted this on my FB page and I also pinned it! :)

Heather said...

Ok, those are just adorable!! http://bellesbazaar-heather.blogspot.com

Heckety said...

These are gorgeous! But the lessons you are teaching by making her this cute outfit are even better: as in:

I love you!
I like making you pretty things to wear that are appropriate!
Reusing old clothes to make something nice is very good!
I love you enough to think ahead and make you feel special on the first day of school!

I've three girls, almost grown, and I've been there with the recycling clothes (still am, actually) and the making them feel special when either you don't have the cash, or when you don't like what the cash will buy!

So, you ROCK as a MOM! I'm a-tellin' ya!!

Unknown said...

Those are just brilliant!
I live in Ireland and over here I've suddenly found my nearly 5 year old is out of the cute section of clothes and I hate the tarty ones on offer for her size now. Fortunately she will be wearing a school uniform but I'd love her to sport those jeans on her first day!

Robin said...

These are darling! I have a couple pair of jeans that are too short and I wanted to make them into capris somehow. This got me inspired!!!! Thank you for posting how.

Grandma Hurst said...

Darling, I love them. You are so talented.

Is Impatience a Virtue? said...

I AM excited!!! Where's the shirt?! We started school yesterday -- we NEED the shirt!!!

Fine. Make us wait a whole week. We'll wait. But, we don't have to like it. ;-)

Seriousy, though, love your tutorial & the jeans are really cute. I'm going to give this one a try & I can't wait to see what you did for the shirt.

I totally agree with your assessment of clothing for girls nowadays. I got disgusted the last time we shopped for clothes. In my opinion, even mature women should not be wearing some of the outfits available for little girls! So, it's nice to see that decency has not gone totally out of style.

Thank you for posting this!

Hope you have a great day!

Brenda said...

Adorable! Love it! I would love to share your idea on Sew A Little Happiness.

Thank you so much!
I'm going to try it for my little girl!
Brenda

Kim said...

Very cute. As a mom of 3 girls..I can't tell you how awful it is to shop for clothes that make little girls look like what they are. I'm not a huge sewer..but I could do this..


www.momspaycheck.blogspot.com

SJ @ Homemaker On A Dime said...

Hi, friend! You've got so much creativity and I'm admiring them all. Can you share your creative posts at my Creative Bloggers' Party & Hop? Hope to see you there :)

nest full of eggs said...

what a great idea ~ thanks for sharing :D