How to Crochet Ruffles (Easy Frilly Edging)
Ruffles add a full, flouncy, playful finish to crochet, perfect for baby clothes, scarves, and pretty edgings. They look elaborate, but the secret behind them is delightfully simple: you just increase a lot. By adding far more stitches than an edge can hold flat, you create surplus fabric that frills out into a ruffle. This guide shows you how to crochet ruffles and frills, and how to control exactly how full they are. It is part of the crochet stitch library.
What Makes a Ruffle?
A ruffle is created by over increasing, which means adding many more stitches to an edge than it needs to lie flat. Normally you keep your stitch count balanced so fabric stays flat, but for a ruffle you deliberately break that balance. When there are far too many stitches for the space, the extra fabric cannot lie flat, so it buckles and waves into a frill. The more you increase, the more surplus fabric there is, and the fuller and frillier the ruffle becomes. It is the same effect that causes accidental ruffling, used on purpose.
When to Use Ruffles
Ruffles suit projects that call for a soft, girly, three dimensional flourish. They are popular on baby clothes and blankets, scarves, skirts, dresses, and decorative edgings, adding a playful, feminine touch. Because ruffles stand out from the fabric rather than lying flat, they create movement and volume, which is lovely for garments and accessories. If you want an edge that flounces and catches the eye rather than sitting flat and neat, a ruffle is the perfect choice.
What You Need
You need your project, yarn, and hook. Ruffles are usually worked onto an edge, often on top of an even base round, so it helps to add that first, as described in how to crochet a blanket border. Because ruffles use a lot of extra stitches, they use noticeably more yarn than a flat edge, so keep plenty of your ruffle color on hand. You should be comfortable with basic stitches and with increasing, since a ruffle is really just heavy increasing.
Step by Step: How to Crochet a Ruffle
Working along an even edge: Step one: for a gentle ruffle, work two stitches into each stitch across the edge, which doubles the stitch count and starts the frill. Step two: for a fuller ruffle, work another round, again increasing into the stitches, or work three stitches into each stitch instead of two. Step three: keep adding stitches until the edge frills as much as you want. The fabric will begin to wave and stand out as the extra stitches build up. Fasten off once the ruffle is as full as you like, and the edge will flounce out into a frill.
Controlling the Fullness
The beauty of ruffles is that you control exactly how full they are through your rate of increase. Two stitches into each stitch over one round gives a soft, gentle ruffle. Three stitches into each, or two or three ruffle rounds stacked, gives a very full, dramatic frill. Fewer increases give a subtle flute, and more give a big flounce. You can also use taller stitches like double crochet for a longer, more flowing ruffle. Experiment on a swatch to find the fullness that suits your project before committing.
Common Ruffle Mistakes
The most common issue is a ruffle that is too flat, which simply means not enough increasing, so add more stitches or another round. The opposite, a ruffle so dense it bunches stiffly, means too many increases packed in too fast, so ease off a little. Uneven ruffles come from increasing by different amounts in different places, so keep your increases consistent across the edge. Since ruffles are all about controlled over increasing, understanding increasing makes them easy to get right.
Best Projects for Ruffles
Ruffles are perfect for baby clothes and blankets, scarves, skirts, dresses, and decorative edgings, anywhere you want a full, flouncy, playful finish. They pair nicely with scallops and shells for extra prettiness. For a flatter decorative wave, try the scalloped edge or shell border instead. Explore more edgings in the crochet stitch library, and find projects to add a frill to in the beginner pattern hub.