9.16.2009

Ruffles as Icing!

My youngest daughter's upcoming birthday was the inspiration for this next project. I knew that I wanted to create a personalized shirt for her to wear to her party, and thought that a cupcake was the perfect image. 

Creating the ruffly icing was my favorite part!
(Click on any image to enlarge for detail)


No measuring was required for this project. 
I started by cutting out a base for the cupcake, 
and attaching it to the shirt with a zigzag stitch. 
My next step was to create the icing.


The icing ruffles were made by cutting long lengths of jersey cotton, 
and gathering as I went. To create a fluffy cupcake top, 
I sewed each strip very close together
overlapping sections, as I filled in the middle. 
Coordinating buttons were added at the top of the cake as "cherries."


My oldest loved her sister's shirt so much that she requested one of her own.
I readily complied - the "icing" was addicting to create (and fat free!).

A few tips:
- Jersey cotton is a breeze to work with; it doesn't fray, but puffs and ruffles up even more after washing and drying.
- It is not necessary to have one looong strip to create the icing ruffle. I used many shorter strips, and overlapped them as I came to the end of the previous strip. The ruffled jersey is so forgiving, you never know when one strip ends and another begins. 
- Be sure to sew the ruffles very closely together. On my first attempt, I thought I had enough ruffles, so I threw it in the wash. When it came out of the dryer, the shirt was showing through the icing, so I simply added more ruffles in the empty space. 

26 comments:

Jennifer said...

Love it! We're going to a party this weekend and I was going to applique the birthday girls' initial but I might switch to a cupcake! Adorable! This might be an ignorant question, but did you use interfacing on the base?

Kristin said...

Thanks Jennifer, and great question; I did not use interfacing on this project, though I have on similar items. I was just too much in a hurry this time, and wanted to get it done!

Krista said...

LOVE it, Kristin! Both of their shirts turned out SO cute! =)

Bobbi Kenow said...

so stinkin' cute!

Adams Family said...

Those are ADORABLE!! I have to try one of these!

tascha said...

LOVE IT!!!!

Allie said...

Very cute! Thanks for the tips.

Andrea said...

OH MY GOODNESS! WHAT FUN! You are just too creative!

Two Little Tots said...

very cute...i might have to make some of these too...thanks so much!

Bree said...

This is adorable! I wonder if I could get away with wearing one hehe! Maybe if it was in the lower corner of the tee rather than across the chest... hm.. time to go experimenting - thanks for such a fab idea :]

Sabrina

http://ajourneyofathousandmiles2009.wordpress.com/

Ruth said...

I love them. Such cute shirts and the girls, too.

Ruth

ReminisceHeirlooms said...

These are just so darling!

mrstolli said...

Adorable! Now I'm gonna have to find shirts to redo out of my girls' closets! Love it!

Amanda and Katie said...

Those shirts are so cute. I want to make one for my daughter's birthday!!

michelle@somedaycrafts said...

Darling. I will be featuring this at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com

Anne said...

This is SO stinkin' cute!! I have a couple of t-shirts to applique for my daughter and I think one of them will now have to have a cupcake on it.

I posted a link to your tutorial on Craft Gossip Sewing:
http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-cupcake-applique-with-ruffles-for-icing/2009/09/20/

--Anne

featherbed said...

this is darling!!!!

Ashlee said...

Look at those sweet girls! What a cute idea.

Laurel @ Ducks in a Row said...

I really really love this! My head has started spinning!

life with my sweeties said...

Loving the shirts. So very cute!!!

life with my sweeties said...

Are you going to sell them?

sara said...

great shirts! i may have to try to make one for my gracie!

thanks!

Lenetta said...

Too cute! I linked to this on my weekly roundup which can be found here. Thanks

Anonymous said...

These are fantastic! I'm going to make some for my daughters and my nieces! Did you use a gathering foot for the "icing?"

Unknown said...

I am going to pay you to make something cute for Genicai! Even after I move back home to the Bahamas!!!

Momma said...

I just made this and I LOVE love love how it turned out! Thank you! Check it out here...

http://thecraftycopycat.blogspot.com/2010/10/yummy-onesie.html

and grab my button if you'd like! :)