Girl's Ruffle Pants {Tutorial}

I've wanted to make my girls some ruffle pants for a long time, but of course the time is hard to find.  Recently I came across a little less than a yard of lightweight denim at a thrift store for $0.69!  Can't beat that.  Right away I knew they would become ruffle pants for one of my girls.  :-)  For a long time now I've had my eye on the cute boutique girly ruffle pants that Matilda Jane and Hannah Kate sell.  But I could never bring myself to pay $35-$40 for them.

I knew I could make them, and so can you!  Here's how to make girls ruffle pants for that special little girl in your life!

First, I had planned on making my own pattern by tracing an existing pair of pants that fit my little girl, but I found out that a friend had a pattern for little girl's pants {thanks Jenn!} and I figured that would be a lot easier, so I used that.  Basically, you want a loose pants style with a pretty straight leg.  If you want to make your own pattern from pants you already have, Dana at Made has a good tutorial on that here.

* I finished all of my seams with a zig-zag stitch on my regular sewing machine.  If you have a serger, you could use that.  It keeps them from fraying or unraveling and gives a nice finished look, but it isn't necessary.

Seam allowance is 3/8".

 The fabric before cutting

The back pants pieces - cut 2.

The front pieces are almost the same {less room in the crotch} - cut 2.

The ruffle pieces - cut 2.  These are folded in half so they are actually twice this long.

Placing right sides together, sew the two pants backs together at the top middle seam {above the curve at the crotch}.  Do the same with the two pants front pieces.

Placing right sides together, match the front of the pants to the back of the pants and sew both side seams.

With right sides together match the front and back of the pants at the inseam {it will be the inside of the legs or crotch seam}.  Stitch together.

Now you're ready to sew the waistband.  On the top edge of the pants I ironed over 1/4" then another 11/4".  I used 1" elastic, but whatever you use, you want to make sure that the waistband casing is big enough for the elastic to slide through.

Sew the casing close to the edge leaving about a 3" gap unsewn to put the elastic in {better photo of that here}.  Put the elastic in the waistband casing.  I like to use a safety pin attached to one end of the elastic to help pull it through.  Try on your little girl to make sure it fits and pin the elastic together where you need to sew it.  Sew elastic together, and stitched the casing opening closed.


For the ruffle I used the fabric that I had leftover and cut two strips of fabric 21 1/2" x 7" each.  My ruffles came out pretty ruffley so you could use less if you wanted a little less ruffle.



With right sides of the ruffle pieces together, sew the end of each strip together on on the short side so that you have two circles of fabric.

For the hem, iron over a 1/2" of fabric then fold over 1/2" again, and iron.  Sew.

Next I finished the top edge of the ruffle piece with a zig-zag stitch to prevent fraying.

On the top edge of the ruffle piece sew a basting stitch {gathering stitch} 3/8" from the edge.

Pulling the thread from both ends, gather the top of the ruffle.

Now you need to trim the pants legs if they will be too long with the ruffle on.  {I had to trim mine a little bit - basically the total amount of the pants and ruffle should equal the desired length of the pants {with seam allowances added in, of course}.  Finish the pant's leg edge with a zig-zag stitch to prevent fraying.

Placing right sides together, match the top edge of the ruffle to the bottom edge of the pants and pin in place, adjusting the gathers until they look even all the way around.  Sew.

Annnnd you're done!!  Sit back and admire your work, put the pants on your little girl, and take lots of pictures!  :-)

** When I made these pants I was so focused on getting them done in the little time I had, that I didn't stop to take pictures during the process.  I hope these {after-the-fact} photos make sense.  If you have questions please ask and I will do my best to answer!