Ric Rac Archives » Page 2 of 2 » Flamingo ToesFlamingo Toes

Tag-Archive for » Ric Rac «

Retro Ric Rac Apron

28
Jul 2010

I have a deep and abiding love for Ric Rac.

If you were to peek into my stash, which I do not recommend, you would think I was saving up for a global Ric Rac shortage. Other people, they buy a pack of gum or TicTac’s every time they go to the store. Nope, not me. I’m Ric Rac all the way.

So when it came time to make a new apron, because it’s always time for a new apron, I just had to make one with Ric Rac. Want to see?

Sigh. Lots of Ric Rac and Ruffles. I love it! Do you??? Sweet! Here’s how to make your own.

You’ll need -

Fabric for apron (Polka dots and Ric Rac are best friends. :) – 1 yard of 44/45″ fabric
Ric Rac, of course
Netting (not pictured) You can buy it by the yard or in those small rolls which is what I had.

Here’s what you cut out of your fabric:

2 pieces 18″ x 3″ for waistband
4 pieces 29″ x 3″ for ties
1 piece 16″ x 29″ for skirt
1 piece 60″ x 3″ (1 piece or a few cut to make 60″ – whatever works for you)

Out of netting cut a piece 120″ x 6″. If you are using netting by the yard you’ll probably need to piece it to get this length. I love those little roles of netting they sell at Michael’s and Walmart – they’re 6″ wide so you can just cut your length. Easy peasy.

Now you’re going to trim the skirt into the scallops. Fold the apron in half. Measure the halfway point at the bottom and then measure up 2 inches. Make a mark with your fabric pen. Measure up 4″ at the side edge and mark also. Find a large bowl and lay on the skirt at the point so the curve goes from the point to the edge. Trace. Cut out the curved edges.

Mark with your pen where you’d like the Ric Rac loops to go. I measured up from the bottom of the two side scallops 4″, then 5″ above that – that is for the bottom and top of the side loops. For the center loop I measured up 4″ and then 7″ above that. I also did points in the Ric Rac at the points of the scallops, 3″ up. Mark all those and then draw out the loops. Pin on your Ric Rac, then sew down.

Whew. No more marking. ;)

Sew together any piecing you need to do and hem the two sides and bottom of your ruffle piece.

Set this piece aside for now. Fold your netting in half length-wise, so it is three inches wide x 120″. Sew a gathering stitch along the folded edge of the netting. (Put your machine on the longest stitch length and hold your thread as you sew. The tighter you hold it, the more gathered the fabric will be.)

Pin your netting to your ruffle piece. Sew another gathering stitch along the top edges, making sure you’re catching both the fabric and the netting.

Pin your ruffle along the sides and bottom of your apron skirt, following the edges of your scallops. Sew the ruffle to the skirt.

Oooh we’re looking flirty. ;)

Sew a gathering stitch to the top of your apron skirt, so that it measures 18″.

Sew an apron tie piece to each side of a waistband piece. Repeat for the other three pieces. Pin the two pieces together and sew the sides (at an angle) and the top long edge of the strip.

Open up your waistband and ties and pin the waistband to the apron skirt, right sides together, so that the edges of the skirt fit between the two waistband edge seams. Pinch up your ruffle edges so the ruffle is tucked under the edge of the skirt. Sew the skirt to the waistband.

While waistband and tie pieces are folded right sides together, sew the bottom edge of each tie piece, from the end up until you reach the apron skirt. Turn right side out and press. Press under the waistband back piece 1/2″ and pin down, so it covers the waistband/skirt seam. Top stitch 1/4″ from the edge all the way around the waistband and ties, sewing down the waistband back piece as you go.

And we’re done! As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me. Here’s some more pictures for you. . .

I think I need some more White Ric Rac.

Category: Apron, Kitchen, Sewing Tags: Apron, Ric Rac, Sewing 43 Comments

Bright Birdie Dishtowel

07
May 2010

Beverly

Well it’s time again for our adventures in “Making-Cute-Dishtowels-For-A-Lot-Less-Money-Than-Anthropologie”. You didn’t know we were doing that? Well now you do. :)

Here’s my latest:

(I’m on a birdie kick. But then so is everyone else so I’m in good company :)

I’ve had the birdcage fabric (Tweet Tweet by Michael Miller) for a little while now, and I just knew it was destined to be a dishtowel. I took one of the cages I liked and redrew it onto muslin and machine stitched over the lines. I don’t think that counts as machine embroidery, does it?

Want to make one too?

Here’s the supply list:
Dishtowel
Birdcage Fabric (about 1/4 yard)
Muslin (just enough for the birdcage applique x 2)
Scraps of fabric for the top and bottom of the birdcage and ruffle
Scrap for Birdie
Ric-rac
Coordinating Embroidery Floss

Alrighty then. I started with a piece of muslin and cut it larger than I needed. (At the time I wasn’t sure how big I wanted the birdcage.) I picked out a cage I liked and redrew it on the muslin with a disappearing ink fabric marker. I made a little mistake on that left arc, but the beauty of disappearing ink is that it all goes away anyway. Sweet!

(I promise to get better about ironing. Sheesh.)

We want to sew the items on in the right order so that the layers are in the right place. In other words, you want the birdie to look like he’s in the cage and on the perch and not floating outside it. :)

I started with the perch. I just stitched back and forth on the line about 7 or 8 times.

Then I traced and cut out my little Birdie. Awww.

I put him on top of the perch, so it looked like he was resting on it. I used Wonder Under to hold him on, then straight stitched around him.

(Look, not quite as wrinkled!! )

Then I repeated the same process for the top and bottom of the birdcage.

(I think it looks a little like a gumball machine here.)

Then it got late and I forgot to take pictures, sorry! But it’s pretty simple so I think by looking at the finished towel you’ll be able to follow along. :)

Just like with the perch, I sewed over all the blue lines, about 3 or 4 times. On the two right legs, I did 5 passes because I wanted them to be just a bit thicker, for a little dimension.

I decided on my cage applique shape and cut it out, then cut out a backing. I did this because the muslin wasn’t very thick and I didn’t want the background fabric showing through. I sewed most of the way around the oval, then clipped the corners and turned it right side out.

I cut a panel of the birdcage fabric the width of the dishtowel x 8″. I sewed this on – leaving the top and bottom so they would fray and hemmed the sides.

Next I placed the birdcage applique where I wanted it (slightly off center) and sewed it on closely to the edge.

I added a ruffle and ric-rac to the bottom edge. At this point it still seemed like it needed something so I did an embroidery running stitch around the white oval. If I did this over, I’d do this running stitch before sewing it on to the dishtowel. :)