Ruffles are great for adding interesting designs to your costumes, and knowing different ruffle styles will help you create great costumes! Flounce ruffles are awesome, because all it takes is a strip of fabric cut in different ways.
So in this tutorial, let me show you different shapes of flounce ruffles you can try. Let’s get started!
Click here to get the Flounce Ruffle Cheatsheet!
4 Types of Flounce Ruffles
#1. Circle flounce ruffles
Most flounce ruffles are cut circular in shape. And this circle flounce is a very easy flounce to try. You draw a small circle, then draw a larger circle around it.
The circumference of the smaller circle is going to be how long the ruffles will be. And the distance between the 2 circles is the width of the ruffles.
Because this strip is a perfect circle, it creates very consistent waves. Of course, you can make this out of a half circle or ¾ circle. Any flounce that is circular in shape creates consistent waves like this.
But the smaller the circle, the more ruffles you get and the tighter the waves become. The larger the circle, the larger the waves.
I’ve used these circle flounce ruffles in this skirt where I layered the ruffles over the godets of the skirt. (Make the skirt here!)
I’ve also used them in this ruffle skirt. All the tiers of this skirt are made from circle flounces! Easy and they look awesome! (Make this skirt here!)
#2. Spiral flounce ruffles
The spiral shape flounce is a little tricky to create, but it minimizes fabric waste.
You can measure and create a really consistent spiral, or you can even try drawing it free hand. Either way, as long as you make a spiral shape, you get ruffles like the image below.
And the highlighted area is the inner edge of the flounce and is going to be the length of the ruffles.
Now here’s what’s interesting about this flounce. Because of the spiral shape, when you straighten the ruffles, you see more ruffles towards what used to be the center of the spiral, and the waves become gentler as you go towards the outside of the spiral.
I’ve used these ruffles in this tutorial where I made these ruffly seaweed armbands.
And for this ruffle skirt. The ruffles are running vertically here, and I like how the waves are a little tighter at the top and cascading down to the bottom.
#3. Square flounce ruffles
Another interesting flounce is this square shaped flounce. The center is a circle, but the outer edge is a square. And the inner circle is the length of the ruffles.
This creates interesting ruffles like this. Think of handkerchief skirts. They are usually 2 pieces of this shape layered on top of each other.
#4 Triangle flounce ruffles
This one is a simple triangular shape. This one creates ruffles by being attached vertically like this.
It won’t work well for horizontal or diagonal ruffles, but it can create an interesting texture for vertical ruffles. It’s used often in endless wave harem pants as well.
Put 2 of the triangle flounces together, you can make rectangle pieces and hang them from the corners. You can make drape armbands like this one. (Make the drape armband here!)
So there you have 4 different shapes of fabric that create different shapes of ruffles! It’s really easy, and you can try with some scrap fabric. And those ruffles can add a lot of fun and whimsical feel to your costumes!
And since these shapes are great to remember, I’ve created a cheatsheet that shows different ways to cut fabric and what kind of ruffles you get. Get it for free at the link below and print it out, and have it at your sewing station for your future reference!
Click here to get the Flounce Ruffle Cheatsheet!
I hope you liked this flounce ruffles tutorial, and if you did, please share it with your costumer friends!
And if you’re curious about making these ruffle skirts, I have a brand new course coming up next week (already live!) where you can learn how to make them!
These are such beautiful things to make, and instant wow skirts. In the course, you can also learn how to finish the edges of flounce ruffles like these. If you’re interested, learn more here!
Thanks for reading, and keep sparkling!
P.S. Pin this image for your future reference 🙂
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