Make an Easy Peplum Top

 Hello Readers. Do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day? I do a little something every year. I love a holiday theme and I am Irish so I was in the zone.

 

Before and after.

 

This green t-shirt was not very exciting on it's own. But it was a great place to start a St. Patrick's Day project. The scarf is actually covered in green hearts, not shamrocks but It's going to be perfect for my new shirt.

This shirt was a freebie from a swap and I used green paint to cover the logo of the business. It didn't have to cover 100% it just had to tone down the white of the business name. (This isn't a business I am trying to give free advertising to. Let's just paint over the name.)

When the paint was dry, I put the shirt on my dress form to work on the fit a little. I cut the neckband off the shirt. This opens up the neck and chest a little and makes it more comfortable. 

I wanted some cute puffy sleeves so I cut the hemmed edge from the ends of the sleeves.

I cut a slit in the top of the sleeve to separate the sleeve into 2. I cut along the outside of the sleeve up to the shoulder seam.

I stretched the cut edges to make them longer. T-shirt material had a lot of give and stretch in it so this was not hard to do. 

I took the 2 ends and tied them into a knot. This made the sleeves more interesting and gave them a little more fullness. 

 

Let's talk about this scarf. It is very thin and a little sheer. That is OK for what I am going to do with it.
 

I cut out a small piece from one edge of the scarf. I wanted to make a pocket. Remember that logo I was painting earlier? This will cover the company name perfectly. 

This scarf is made of very thin lightweight material. I decided to add some fusible interfacing to strengthen the pocket and make it easier to sew. 

I ironed the bumpy side of the interfacing to the inside of my pocket fabric. The interfacing was cut smaller than the pocket so I could fold the edges in. This will give me a nice finished edge all around the pocket when I sew it to the shirt.

You can't see the logo anymore at all. I pinned the pocket in place on my green shirt.

I sewed the pocket to the shirt on the sides and bottom. I left the top of the pocket open, so I could use it like a real pocket. The top of the pocket is the finished edge of the scarf. It looks nice and neat. 

 

I cut about 6 inches from the bottom of the t-shirt. I pinned the scarf around the bottom of the shirt. Every body is different so your desired shirt length might be different from mine. Measure to see how long you want your shirt to be.

 

I put the right sides of the scarf and the shirt together and used a zigzag stitch. I gathered the scarf fabric together a little as I stitched. The scarf was just a little bigger than the shirt. The fullness of the scarf will make the big ruffle around the hips.

 

 The scarf was a long circle but I cut it to make my pocket. I connected the circle again to make the big ruffle/peplum around the bottom of my t-shirt. 

 

My St. Patrick's Day shirt is done. It is fun for the holiday and I like the white and green together. I think I have a bit of Miss Frizzle in me. Her clothes always matched the show topic. I love making clothes like this. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

***Year End Update- I have been saving this for March. It is a holiday shirt and it will come back then.

 

Making a Peplum Top With a Scarf

 Hello Readers. I wanted to find a way to use this cool scarf. I loved the fall colors. I thought it would make a fun peplum top with this boring brown shirt. 

 

Before and after.

 

I found this vintage scarf at a clothes swap and I really liked the warm fall colors. Scarves never seam to look right on me so I decided to put this shirt and scarf together to make something fun. 

 

I started by cutting the shirt.
 

I cut about 8 inches from this shirt so I could add the scarf to the bottom. I also folded up the sleeves and marked in white where I wanted to make a new seam. I wanted shorter sleeves but I still wanted the cuff attached at the ends of the sleeves.

This was a men's shirt and I needed to shorten the sleeves. I decided to make the sleeves more of a 3/4 length. I stitched the cuff at a new length and cut off the excess.

 

I cut the extra fabric off the sleeves and turned the cuff down. It looked like a brand new sleeve.

 

I cut the scarf in half so I could attach half to the front and half to the back.

 

I put the right sides of the shirt and the scarf together and got to the sewing machine.

 

I used my serger to sew the scarf to the shirt. I sewed all the way around the shirt. 

 

The scarf made a little peplum at the bottom of the shirt. It is brighter and more colorful.
 

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year End Note From Chickie- I haven't worn this shirt again because I am afraid I will ruin it at work. I need to get over that and just enjoy it.

 

 

 

 

The Easy Peplum Top

Hello Readers. This little gem of a dress was at a clothes swap a while back. It looks a little like a school uniform to me. There is nothing wrong with school uniforms but at the ripe old age of 45, that is not a great look for me. (I love all kinds of crazy funky styles but even I have my limits.)

 I loved the plaid fabric and I knew I could do something with this dress. It was in great condition and it fit well. It wasn't very exciting or sophisticated the way it was as a dress. I decided to make a shirt with a peplum at the bottom. 

I have to be honest, it was super simple. I just cut off the lower part of the dress. I thought the peplum should be about 4 inches long. I was just sort of guessing. I made a new hem at the bottom of the shirt so it would be nice and neat. And I ironed it. I hate to iron but sometimes it is a must. 

I liked the end result a lot. It was still a simple button down shirt but the peplum makes it so much more feminine and fun.

Thanks for reading, now go make something fun for yourself.