I don’t know about you but I am always on the hunt for fun ways to modify my sewing patterns. I just can’t help myself, it’s too fun. Inspired by a cute little skirt pattern I bought recently I have been trying this drawstring ruching technique on everything in sight!
It’s really very simple, all you need for this mod are a couple 2″ wide strips (for the casing)
and some drawstring,
that’s it!
Here I wanted to add a little detail to the hem of a tunic I was working on so I added the ruching at the lower end of each side seam. Since knit doesn’t fray I didn’t bother finishing the edges in any way, just made three seams down the strip to create tracks for the drawstring. I like to use the width of my pressure foot as a guide, it’s an easy way to keep the tracks even and it fits the drawstring perfectly. Trim off excess (not too close to the stitches or your tracks may pop open!) and use a giant safety pin to thread your drawstring though.
I like to save those pesky rolled salvage edges to use as drawstring but you can use any number of things…. chord, ribbon, lace? Have fun with it!
Happy Sewing!!