Ruffles without the #86 foot

This romper was made for Mae, who will soon be 4, and it looks like it is going to fit Issa, who will soon be 6. We thought she was a little old for this style, but when she put it on she seemed to like it. I need to remember that Bonnie Blue designs run a little large. And I have to confess a real bias here. I understand that all these ruffles are quite the fashion for little ones, but they are just not to my liking. I like a more traditional look, even in their playclothes. If I make this again I might try cutting some of the fullness out of it, and cutting down the size of the ruffle.

I made two of these little rompers today, in a production line. The pattern was easy; it is made much like the little pillowcase dresses, but made into pants instead. I had some coordinating fabrics in the sewing room, and thought the style might look good on Katelyn and Mae.I was hoping to try my new ruffler attachment. It is a very strange looking foot; it attaches easily, you just have to make sure that the cone is inserted like all Berniina feet, and that the fork goes around the screw on the right of the shank. The lever and screw in the front of the foot make the adjustments. Here are two samples of ruffles I made using my new #86 foot. I figured out that
with the method used to attach the ruffles to my little romper, this attachment just wasn't going to work. When you use this attachment, you cannot adjust the ruffles, they are stitched in place. It would be WONDERFUL to use for long strips of fabric. I almost think though that it should be called a pleater....the first sample shows the pleats with the setting on 1, the second on 6. You can vary the depth and length of the little pleats. But for the romper I had a circle of fabric to insert at the bottom of a little leg and it had to be exact...I just wasn't sure how it would fit. So I put it back in the box, stitched my 2 rows of long gathering stitiches, and gathered the ruffles the old fashioned way.