Skip to main content

Pretty Peplum Top Sew Along: Finishing + Turning the Peplum into a Dress

We're in the home stretch! All we have to do is stitch the bottom hem and sleeve hem, then we're finished! I wouldn't normally talk about what to do for this, but Pamela has an ingenious way to get a really nice hem. I have been using it on other projects too and it's been great!

Pamela uses stay tape to finish all her hems. She likes to use SewkeysE brand, which we talked about HERE. You can also refer to the video on stay tapes in that blog post. SewkeysE has a 1" Double sided Fusible Stay Tape. If you are using this brand of stay tape for this project, you will need to cut the stay tape down to 1/2". I did not have this brand of stay tape at the time, so I found Pellon EZ- Steam II - a Two sided pressure sensitive Fusible Tape at a local fabric store. You will see that I used it in the photos below, but I'd like to try SewkeysE in the future. It was hard to get the tape off of the fusible part once it is fused down. But once you got it apart, it peeled right off.


Press the stay tape to the wrong side of the hem edge. Since the peplum is curved, you will need to cut the stay tape like Pamela mentions in the video. Remove the paper backing, fold up using the edge of the stay tape as your guide and press. Stitch in place! How easy is that? Do the same for the sleeves. If you make the longer sleeves (or any other length than the cap sleeves) use the 1" stay tape. For the cap sleeve cut the 1" down to 1/2".




I know a few of you were wondering how you could make the peplum top into a dress. I was curious too and decided to give it a try. It's actually really easy! All you need is some extra fabric (I would say about 2 yards extra), pattern paper, a yard stick or long ruler and a marking tool. The amount of yardage you need will depend on how long you want the dress to be.

Fold the fabric in half, I like to do right sides together. Then line up the peplum front piece with the top of the fold. You want to make sure you have plenty of space for the dress length.



Take a yard stick or long plastic ruler and line it up against one of the peplum side seams. Mark this length. For this demo, I have the dress 18" longer than the peplum piece. (If you see the photo above, the 18" mark is right at the bottom edge of the peplum. 



Move the ruler a few inches, keeping the ruler and bottom edge of pattern piece together at the 18" mark. Make another mark. Do this the whole way across the peplum till you have a complete skirt.




If you feel like the skirt is too big, you can make it smaller! You can adjust it when you try it on, or before cutting out. If you do it before cutting out, line up your ruler at the peplum waist. Then move the ruler till you feel like you're at a good width. The key is to make sure you keep the sizing at the waist so you don't have fit issues later!


Repeat the same step for the back peplum piece. Follow the same steps for the rest of the garment. How easy was that?

Here is my finished Pretty Peplum Dress. It's been so cold outside to get good pictures, so this will have to do for now! I like the overall look, but in certain photos the waistline does not look flattering to me. I think this may have something to do with the fact that I did not cut out the darted front top piece. Read about that HERE. I plan on taking the front piece out and re-cutting the front with the darted piece.


Tomorrow, I will share with you my finished peplum tops with some commentary about what I did on each. I'd love to see how your peplum tops are coming along! Please share photos with me and I'll share them on the blog! (Finished top photos will be due at a later time to be considered for the sew along prizes!) 

ALSO! One of our followers, Angela, submitted photos of her muslin --so far so good! Can't wait to see it finished! 




Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment! All comments are reviewed before posting to help us eliminate spam. Your comment will be posted within 24 hours.

Popular Posts You Might Like

Made By A Fabricista: My Version of the Infamous DVF Wrap Dress

Just in case you are not aware, the iconic Diane Fustenberg wrap dress has turned 50 this year.  In celebration, Vogue has re-released the DVF Wrap Dress pattern, which now comes in extended sizes.  This dress is so classic and fits many different body types.  I got a hold of this pattern and decided this would be my birthday dress this year. This pattern is categorized as a Very Easy Vogue pattern, and I would have to agree with that. Wrap dresses are usually relatively simple to put together since there aren’t that many pattern pieces to sew together. I made View A in a size 22 and the only modification I made was to shorten the hem by 6 inches.  I will say that since I used a Ponte Knit , I could have gone down to a size 20.  I didn’t read the fabric suggestions before picking my fabric.  I’ve always remembered seeing the DVF Wrap dress in knits. After reviewing the fabric suggestions, they do say that you can use soft fabrics, like a Challis or a Chambray. As I mentioned, I’ve alwa

Made By A Fabricista: The Grand Sewing Plan

Spring is everywhere you look! Full winter jackets and thick sweaters are no longer daily wardrobe requirements, and new spring fabrics are blooming at Fabric Mart! Every Spring, I try to make myself a new dress to celebrate the turn of the seasons, but this year I had a grand sewing plan to make 5 new spring garments. It all started one day while browsing the Fabric Mart website. I saw an adorable cotton veggie print shirting fabric and envisioned it becoming a special little button-up shirt for my son to wear on Easter. The cotton veggie print shirting reminded me of the Peter Rabbit stories I used to read as a child and then all of a sudden I got carried away with my ideas. My initial idea grew into a mother-and-son outfit coordination idea with button-up shirts and ended with an entire family outfit coordination plan. I ordered 2.75 yards of the cotton veggie print shirting fabric to make two button-up shirts and a tie. Most sane people would have stopped there with the matching sh

Week 4: Jeansmaking- What They Made

This is it, the final round! And we certainly did not go easy on our three remaining contestants this time. This round they had to make their own pair of well fitting jeans. I think they all did an absolutely outstanding job! Take a look what these ladies accomplished & be sure to vote for your favorite! (Link at bottom of post.) And, don't forget to show us your me-made jeans on Facebook or Instagram. Details at the bottom of this post. Danesha from  Classyfied Life So first I must say that this entire challenge has been just that...a challenge! Two weeks ago there was hurricane Irma and I was blessed enough to not lose power and then I went out into the aftermath to capture some photos of my submission. Then two weeks ago I had a big trip planned so I had to do EVERYTHING  in two days . Then the BIGGEST challenge of all...THIS week! I got the challenge and I was super excited to have an extra few days and then before I could even get started I ended up in the eme