Add on the Ruffle

As promised on our FB Group page, we bring you our first tutorial (sort of).

Ever get frustrated when you find the perfect skirt, on sale, your size BUT it’s too short?? Been there and done that plenty of times. So one day, I got so sick and tired of being pushed around by short skirts, I started to fight back. Below I’m going to show you (attempt to) how you can easily add beautiful ruffles to most skirts! They just blend in with the skirt and makes it unique to you. For the next tutorial, I’ll take pictures as I work on the skirt, not when it’s been already done.

This is the final product!

Steps

You either use a sewing machine to finish faster or do it the old fashion way, via hand. I have a sewing machine but am lazy to bring it out, so I’ll spend hours and hours doing via hand. LOL….okay so it doesn’t take hours and hours, but expect to spend a good 2 hours on this if you're hand sewing. If using a sewing machine, you follow the same technique.

1. First step is to grab a piece of fabric (from your scrap box) or go buy some matching fabric at your nearest fabric store. The amount of fabric you are going to use really depends on how much length you want to add to the skirt and how open the skirt is. If it’s a princess type skirt you’ll need much more than you would for a pencil skirt to go all the way around. I’m usually safe by buying a meter of fabric. If you are unsure, take the skirt to the fabric store and ask the clerks how much they think you’ll need.

2. Since I do this via hand, I get lazy to do a hem, so my solution is to fold the material in half, iron it really well and viola! The hem is done. Once you start to do the ruffle it will look something like this.

3. I learned to create the ruffle by actually following this flower tutorial. It’s is important that you use a big Needle when doing the ruffle for the skirt. For the skirt you will need much more material than you would for a small flower (that’s a given). The tutorial worked really well in creating the ruffle because you follow the same technique and instead of closing the fabric, you just keep going and going and going. If you run out of thread, tighten the ruffle, and close with a knot that will never open, yes never. Then restart from where you left off.






4. Once you have created the ruffle it is time to add it to your skirt and see your beautiful creation come alive. My suggestion is to not close the ruffle until you've added it to your skirt. By closing it, it will be harder to work with when adding to the skirt. To add the ruffle to the skirt I use a smaller needle. The fabric shops, sell inexpensive packages of different size needles, it would be wise to invest in these. I use a smaller needle and leave much more space between each stitch so that it is little noticeable that the ruffle is an add on.

5. After you’ve added the ruffle, it’s time to add the flower or bow or whatever you want to add for a nice touch. To create this flower I used the same technique as in video at step 3. I have been meaning to add a button or some pearls to make it look more like a flower but keep forgetting! You can do that as well.

6. Viola you are done! Aren’t you proud?

I hope you enjoyed this mini tutorial! I think this is an easy way to make your skirts more modest and unique to you.

Skirt originally from Old Navy purchase at $15 on Sale.

Join Our Group on Facebook

Hello!

This post is just an invitation for those who have not already joined our Group on Facebook. This group was created to share posts, scripture, ideas and have discussions over the issues of Modesty on a more personal level! It's been great so far.

Feel free to Join by clicking here.

Interesting Post coming soon. I promise.

Men's Thoughts on Modesty Video

This video impacted me the first time I saw it. It makes so much sense. Would love to read your comments! A post expanding on this will follow in the coming days.

My Modesty Walk

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9

(pictured left to right Middle bro, Little bro, me in my stylish, modest, beautiful outifit at age 11ish?!?!)

 In my years of my walk with God, a handful of people have told me, "well modesty came easy for you, because you grew up in the church, you didn't know another life" I must say that I only half agree with this statement.

In my teenage years, there were times when I had my doubts, I wanted to fit in, I didn't want to be different but then something inside me would tell me that this Christian life was the best way to live. So I hesitantly would let go of my doubt and decide this path was the right thing for me. Although it wasn't always easy for me to choose God over teenage popularity, I always had a fear of God growing in me, keeping me away from those things which didn’t please Him. I can’t lie and say I was never tempted and sometimes I even failed but the Lord was always there to lift me up and put me right back on His Path for me.

I think mostly what kept me from doing wrong was the fear of disappointing my mother. And I know that that was a result of her constant prayer for us, her children. Growing up, some of the best memories I have of my mom was her praying, although I could not always hear her pleas, I knew they were for her children. That showed me how much she loved us.

Growing up my mother would always tell me, “no I can't buy you this or no you can’t wear that because it’s immodest”, I would get upset because "all the other girls were wearing it". Of course that would follow the famous words, (in the Hispanic version), "if all your friends were jumping off of a cliff, would you too?" Of course my wise answer was a pouty “no”. And then she would patiently try to explain to this hard headed child why dressing modestly was in obedience to Gods word.

Eventually, as I matured, dressing modestly just became part of life. I didn't do it anymore because it pleased my mother but rather because it pleased God.What others said or thought of me didn't matter anymore, I knew what God wanted and I had gotten to the point where my mind was made up that I was going to live my life modestly (in all aspects) to honor Christ. A burden inside of me started growing, slowly but surely, about this modesty thing. I had decided that I really wanted to be different in this messed up world and I wanted to stand up for God and honour him in this particular matter, fervently. I know He himself placed this burden in me at a young age.

Then the problems started, okay, okay, they weren’t huge problems but the time had come in which I had to witness to non-believers about my faith and convictions. The cherry on top was that the younger girls at my church were going through similar doubts that I did growing up and started asking me questions seeking answers to their doubts. I knew that my responsibility in answering correctly to these non-believers and these young girls was a huge one before God. My answers as to why dressing modestly was important made sense but didn't seem like enough to change people’s view or create grounded convictions on the issue.

I realized that I had to pray, study Gods word and resources on the topic to attain more knowledge on the issues at hand. Boy oh boy did I learn a lot! And when I was done, I was so mad at the enemy for leading man kind so astray from Gods perfect will, my convictions were firm and my desire to teach this became stronger. Hence why I wrote a book, encourage others about this and now started this blog.

With all of this I want to say, when you are in doubt of something in God’s word, study it and allow God in prayer to speak to you. Form your own convictions, don't just do things because it feels right (although our intuitions may be right) but do things because you have obtained that conviction through prayer and study. Only this way will your convictions be grounded on the Rock. If you just do it to do it, one day you may be tried by someone who will attempt to fool you and if you haven't study this for yourself, you will be easily convinced. There are many materials out there that try to rebuttal our beliefs, putting their own interpretations of God’s word and if we don't study we could be easily fooled.

The reason for this post was to share a little bit about my testimony and to encourage you to study this topic for yourselves. You will be surprised with how much you’ll learn. The Lord is faithful when we are faithful to Him in all aspects. Even in the minor things He is glorified.

If you would like any book suggestions check out the “Great Books on Modesty Tab” for great resources. I will keep you updated on the best material I have found helpful.

Check out the "Great Books on Modesty" Tab....

The Modesty Walk: Great Books on Modesty: I'll be updating this with Great books on Modesty which you could order going to this Facebook Page if you live in Ontario and if you don't...

More Precious than Diamonds or Pearls

Today, I'd like to share a little something that I read in a book about Modesty once. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

The daughter of Muhammad Ali, A famous boxer, shared her father's thoughts on modesty in her book, More Than A Hero: Muhammad Ali's Life Lessons Through His Daughter's Eyes. "Hana, everything that God made valuable in the world is covered and hard to get to. Where do you find diamonds? Deep down in the ground, covered and protected. Where do find pearls? Deep down at the bottom of the ocean, covered up and protected in a beautiful shell. Where do you find gold? Way down in the mine, covered over with layers and layers of rock. You've got to work hard to get to them." He looked at me with serious eyes. "Your body is sacred. You're far more precious than diamonds and pearls and you should be covered too.” - The Girl In The Dress

 
When I read this, I loved it!! It takes you to realize that Modesty goes beyond just being church rules. Everything God left in his Word for us goes way deeper than just being "rules". We have to learn to read beyond the lines and open our spiritual eyes to see the truth behind why God requires us to live a certain way. We are ALL very valuable in God’s eyes, He created us that way. By covering our bodies modestly we honor the God who created us. We show God that we are thankful that he has us in such high esteem. Creation itself teaches us a lesson on the character of the God which we serve. If something is of great value, it is covered and hard to get to, like the example above. To God we are more valuable and precious than pearls or diamonds. Our worth to him is more than we could ever imagine. Once we realize that, living outward holiness won't be difficult. Loving God and loving ourselves will help us live in the way that he wants us to live! Our bodies are the temple of the living God! What a great treasure we have living in us. Let’s value and take care of what he has given us! Let’s live holy because he is HOLY!

“Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies” - Proverbs 31:10

“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”- 1 Corinthians 3:16