Pretty Peplum Top Sew Along: Neckline Options

I hope everyone's fit session went well! It was really interesting reading about your progress and how many of us made the same mistakes! Hopefully you didn't have to remake your top at all (or too many times!) If you have photos of your progress to share, please do! Email me photos and any commentary you have at: fabricmartblog@gmail.com. I would love to share them with everyone else participating. 

Next, we are going to talk about how to finish the neckline. The beauty of this pattern is that it comes with four different necklines AND you can use the necklines included in the Perfect T-shirt Pattern and the New Necklines and Sleeves for the Perfect T-shirt. I'm going to show you how to create the necklines included with the peplum top pattern. 

There are three necklines included: jewel, scoop and keyhole. The keyhole can be used on either the front or back of the neckline. 

If you plan on making the jewel or keyhole neckline, cut a strip of knit fabric 2 1/2" x 22".  If you are making the scoop neckline, cut out a strip of knit fabric 2 1/2" x 25". You want the stretch to go the long way of your neckline binding piece. Therefore, when you're stretching it in the neck area it will not ripple or not lay correctly.

Next, the directions tell you to sew the neckline binding into a circle, right sides together. Fold it in half using the seam has your guide. Make a mark on the opposite fold. You should have it marked in half at this point. Then fold it in the other direction, matching the mark and the seamline in the middle. Mark the folds on either side. Now you have the neckline binding marked into quarters. You can see in the photo above, the pins denote the spots you will need to match up with the neckline. 

To find the quarters of the neckline on the top is done basically in the same way. Fold up the back piece mimicking how you cut it out on the fold. Mark the midpoint. Keep it folded and find the middle of the front. Then match up the front and back marks and fold the neckline at the sides to find the midpoint in that direction. THE MID-POINT WILL NOT BE THE SHOULDER SEAMS!! I made this mistake on the first two tops I made. When the binding was attached I had a lot of pulling in the front section therefore making it look like it didn't fit. Then pin the binding to the neckline, right sides together, matching the quarter points. Sew together using a 3/8" - 1/2" seam allowance. I liked using the 1/2" seam allowance because when you finish the neckline, the raw edges turn into a "padding" inside the neckband. 

Keyhole neckline:
The keyhole neckline should be used with the jewel neckline if you plan on having the keyhole in the front. If it's in the back, you can use either the jewel or scoop. I made mine on the back of the top.

Cut out a piece of fabric and interfacing the size of the square pattern piece the keyhole is printed on. This will be the keyhole facing. 

Trace the neckline, center front, cutting line and stitiching line onto the fusible interfacing. I like to use transfer paper and a wheel to make markings. Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric piece. 

Cut along the neckline and cutting line. 

Find the center of the top front (or back if you're putting it there.) and mark with a 6" line down the front. Center up the keyhole piece, right sides together. 

Stitch along the lines on the interfacing. With a 1.8mm stitch length, stitch along the stitching line. 

Trim 1/8"  from the stitching line in the middle section of the keyhole. 

Turn facing to wrong side and press. You can top stitch the facing in place if you would like. 

Next you will be creating the neckline face. You will need to mark 1/2" from each end to start. This is your seam allowance and will be folded over to hide the raw edge at the keyhole area. Then fold in half to find the center, and then match up the ends with the middle to find the quarter points. Below you can see the pins are my quarter point markings. Do the same on the neckline on the top, except you don't need to mark 1/2" from the edge. If you're unsure, follow the directions on finding the quarters of neckline above. (When we talked about putting on the regular neckline binding.)

Pin the neckline binding to the top, right sides together. Make sure the 1/2" markings are extending over the ends at the keyhole. Then fold them under, binding in the raw edge. 

A keyhole needs a closure! Pamela had a great idea to use hair ties as an elastic substitute! I have to say, some of the rounded elastics you find in stores can be kind of cheap. The hair tie creates a really durable keyhole closure. Cut a 2" piece and form into a small loop. Keep it together using scotch tape. Hand or machine baste in place on one side of the keyhole. 

Press the seam allowance toward the binding. Wrap the binding up over the seam allowance. wrap it snuggly so the seam allowance turns into a filler inside the neckline. Pin in place from the right side and stitch in the ditch.  Your finished neckline binding should be about 1/2" wide.

On the backside, you can cut the raw edge about 1/4" from the seam if you would like, but mine ended up rolling a little and looked nice! How you finish it would be a personal preference. Most knits do not ravel, so you make the call. 

Find a button that matches your fabric and the elastic hole size, and hand sew on the other side. A shank button would probably be best. Place the button so that there is not a large gap between the two sides of the keyhole.

Voila! You have a keyhole! You should also check out Pamela's video on making the keyhole neckline. It is really helpful!

Toward the end of the week, we will be putting the finishing touches on this top and then also learning how to turn this top into a dress!