fat quarter friday {ruffled wristlet tutorial and a giveaway}

Welcome to fat quarter friday!

Now that we all know what a fat quarter is, let's get started with our first tutorial.

Ruffled Wristlet Tutorial

(Allow 1-2 hours to complete project)

Materials Needed:

* two fat quarters or one fat quarter and a scrap piece of fabric.
* 7" zipper
* 3/4" D ring
* clasp
* flannel, batting or stabilizer (I will be using flannel)

From one fat quarter (main fabric) cut the following:

*2 pieces at 6" x 4" (inside pocket)
*4 pieces at 8" x 6" (bag)
*1 piece at 15" x 2" (handle)

From another fat quarter (contrasting fabric) or scrap piece cut the following:
*1 piece at 18" x 4" (ruffle)
*1 piece at 4" x 1 1/2" (tip of handle)

Cut batting or flannel to the following sizes:
*1 piece at 6" x 4" (inside pocket)
*2 pieces at 8" x 6" (bag)

Now that all your pieces are cut out, let's get started!

Get the 18" x 4" piece of fabric, we are going to make the ruffle with it.

Fold wrong sides together and sew edge.

Iron so that the sewn edge is in the center. Change the stitch length on your machine to a length of 4 and stitch the piece of fabric down the center. Gently pull one of the threads to gather and cause it to ruffle.

Now that you have a ruffle, iron it slightly and place it on top of a 8" x 6" piece of fabric. Place the ruffle about 1 1/2" to 2" up from the bottom. Sew ruffle in place on the top edge and the bottom edge.

Seam rip the thread that you used to make the ruffle. Set aside.

Now we are going to make the pocket for the inside of the bag. Gather the two 6" x 4" pieces of fabric and the 6" x 4" piece of flannel.

Layer the three pieces like so. The flannel piece on the bottom, next a fabric piece right side up, and a fabric piece wrong side up. Sew around all edges, while leaving a 2" opening for turning right side out.

Trim edges and square off corners.

Turn right side out, iron flat and top stitch just on the top edge of pocket.

Take another 8" x 6" piece of fabric and place the pocket piece you just sewed, on top of it about 1 1/2" up from the bottom. Make sure the pocket is centered as well.

Sew in place on all three sides.
Set aside.

Take the 15" x 2" piece of fabric and sew right sides together.

Trim excess fabric. Place a pin on one end and push inside to turn right side out. Iron and top stitch on the right and left side.

Trim off a 2" piece, this will be used to attach the D ring onto the bag.

Set aside.

Gather the 4" x 1 1/2" piece of fabric.

With right sides together sew, leaving one edge open.

Turn right side out and fold raw edge in about a 1" or so.

Now place the handle piece through the clasp and sew in place as close to the clasp as possible. Now take the raw edges from the handle piece and tuck them into the little pocket that you just made.

Sew pocket piece in place like so. It should look like this now.

Take the 2" piece that you cut off from the handle piece and pull through the D ring.

Sew the D ring in place like above. Make sure you sew as close to the edge as possible.

Now let's put the bag together.

Take the piece of fabric that has the pocket sewn on it and lay it right side up.

Place the zipper on top, with the teeth on top. Make sure it is even with top edge.

Then place a piece of fabric wrong side up on top of the zipper. Lastly, place a 8" x 6" piece of flannel on top.

Make sure they are layered like in the picture above.

Time to sew them together. If you have a zipper foot, go ahead and sew them together. If you don't have a zipper foot (that's me) just place the edge of foot against the edge of the zipper teeth. Move the position of the needle. You want it as close to the zipper as possible. See picture above. Sew until you get to the zipper, then stop.

With the needle still in the fabric and the foot is down, unzip the zipper and move it out of the way. Line up edges again and finish stitching. Easy right?

Looks like this now. Unfold so that fabric pieces are right sides facing out.

Iron and top stitch the top edge. Stitch as close to the zipper as possible.

Gather the last 8" x 6" piece of fabric. Lay right side up. Place the piece that you just attached the zipper to (zipper side up) on top.

Then take the ruffle piece and lay wrong side up ontop of the zipper piece. Make sure they are layered like the picture above. Notice the D ring and where it is.

Now place flannel piece on top. Make sure they are all lined up at the top. Pin and sew zipper on like you did before.

Unfold, iron flat, and top stitch close to zipper like you did before.

This will be the outside of bag.

And this is going to be the inside of the bag.

Take and trim up the edges with your rotary cutter. Make sure they are even and straight.

Now it is time to sew the bag together.

Lay pieces like so. The pieces that make up the inside of the bag should have their right sides facing and are on top of one another. (See them pictured on the left side above?) Now the pieces that make up the outside of the bag along with the flannel should be on top of one another with right sides facing. (See them on the right.)

**Note: this part is important.**

When sewing the sides together, make sure that the zipper is lined up and folded together like above. It is more important for the zipper to be lined up perfectly then for the fabric edges to be lined up.This is how you will make sure your zipper works correctly. Again, noticed how the fabric is lined up and the zipper is folded.

Sew on all sides while leaving a 2 1/2" opening on the pieces that do not have the flannel, see them on the right? These are the pieces that make up the inside of the bag. The opening will allow you to pull the bag right side out. Don't pull right side out just yet.

First you want to square off the edges, this will give the bag it's shape. Measure in about 1" from the tip of the triangle, draw a line and sew on top of line. Trim off excess fabric.

Repeat for all four sides.

Should look like this now. Pull right sides out through opening.

Stitch opening shut as close to the edge as possible. Push fabric into the bag and give it it's shape.

Here is the bag all finished. Now just attach the clasp to the D ring and your finished!

And there you have it! Two fat quarters and some flannel and now you have a cute little ruffled wristlet!

**Please feel free to use this tutorial for your personal sewing projects. You may link this to your blog and use any photo's, just be kind and give credit where credit is due.**
Any questions or comments please do not hesitat to contact me. If you make one using this tutorial, please send me an email or add it to my flickr group. I would love to see it!

Ok, so lets have a giveaway!

Anyone interested in winning this little ruffled wristlet?

To enter, just leave me a comment telling me what you would like to see here on fat quarter friday.

Giveaway ends January, 20th 2011