Sewing a Ruffled Bed Skirt aka Dust Ruffle

Aug 1, 2011

I had put off sewing this project for so long, because my Socialite Sister™ wanted to change my Godchild’s bed from a Queen size to a Twin Size.  That never ended up happening and in the meantime, I got distracted.  But it was now time to get cracking on this Queen Ruffled Bed Skirt.

Using this tutorial, I spent hours tackling this project.  Lots of yardage.  OMG.  I have a new respect for my Mom who always sewed Home Decor—everything from King Size circular bed skirts to ornate pillow shams.

If you’re going to make one, I strongly suggest you buy a cheap bed skirt and use the decking (base fabric that sits on the box spring) instead of buying wide width material.  For $13, it was more cost-effective than ordering oversized material online.

Rip off the cheap polyester bed skirt from the decking and serge the decking edges (or sew a zig zag stitch to keep it from fraying).

This one-way print was a nightmare.  I suggest you find an all-over pattern to cover up any mistakes you make.  I had to sew 14 panels together to get the required length for the ruffle panels.  And then I realized the fabric was off grain…UGH!  So I did what every good seamstress would do…I fudged it.  Hopefully, it won’t be noticeable.

The bed skirt requires 3 lengths of fabric:  2 long side panels and the bottom panel.  To help me keep track of which panel was which, I used quilter’s clips—one clip on panel one, 2 clips on panel 2 and 3 clips of panel 3.

Since I don’t have a gathering foot for my sewing machine and I can’t estimate the amount of ruffling needed using my ruffler foot, I opted for my 5 Groove Pintuck foot and did things the old fashioned way.  It’s times like this when a Cording foot would come in handy.

Anyway, the pintuck foot has a groove on both the top and bottom.

I used buttonhole thread (you could use any thick thread), placing the spool on the extra thread stand.

I then passed it through the groove in the front of the foot and pulled it through the back, leaving a long thread tail.

I lined up the top edge of my fabric panel and stitched a wide zig zag over the buttonhole thread.  Make sure you don’t catch the buttonhole thread in your zig zag stitch.

I then divided both my fabric panel and decking into quarters (mark with a water-soluble marking pen).  Match up the quarter marks and pin at each quarter.  Now pull the buttonhole thread at each quarter to gather up the fabric panel to the size of the decking.

Space out your gathers evenly and pin to the decking (right sides together).

I then used my Edge Stitching foot to sew the gathered fabric panel to the decking.

Then I ran it through my serger to give it a professional look.

Oh…and one thing I should mention:  Extend your fabric panels around the side if you have corner bed posts.

 

Overlap the fabric panels.  This allows the dust ruffle to hang nicely.

Done!  Another UFO crossed off my list!  Next up…two matching pillow shams.  But that will have to wait until next week.  I have a big BBQ this coming weekend!

Happy Sewing!

With friendship,

Lisa