Shirr is Pretty

You know those ideas that float through your thoughts and you can't seem to get them out of your mind until you do something about it?  Well this project was one of them. 
Some time ago I saw some leggings with rows of ruffles on them--I kept thinking about them and knew exactly what I wanted to do.

   Using a pair of pajama pants I made my own pattern and cut out the pants using a gauze type fabric. Next I cut out two inch strips of fabric, serged each long side and ruffled it.  Before sewing the pant leg sides I sewed 5 rows of ruffles to each leg.

 Sew, sew, sew...

The bottom row of ruffles is folded in half to give it a little lift.

For the top/dress I wanted to try shirring again.  After eleven rows I finally figured out that I needed to drastically increase the tension on my machine to get the gathering that I wanted.

I have a lot of this purple material--thank goodness my little girl likes purple.  The straps are made out of 2 inch bias tape--one continuous strap for each arm--this also finished off the edges on the armholes

Simple and Sweet