Handkerchief Peplum Dress DIY + Mini Tutorial

Have you seen Jean in her white dress?  If you have, you can guess why I all of a sudden wanted one too :)  Shopping for a white sheath can be a bit of a nightmare because I need a dress with the following qualities: must not be see-through, must fit proportions well, must hide tummy, and must be a "deal" of some sort.  That's a tall order, and one unlikely to be filled without a good deal of shopping around, so I went to the fabric store instead.  While searching for a white ponte knit (and getting disappointed by the $13/yd price tag), I found a heavy white knit instead (on crazy sale for $2.50/yd).  It's a little thicker than ponte and a little less stretchy.  Both qualities help in the "hide tummy" camp :)

I started with the white sheath and felt like it needed a little extra something when I finished.  I decided to add a removable handkerchief peplum.

Dress with and without peplum - I prefer the "with" (at least for now)

DIY White Sheath Dress w/ Removable Handkerchief Peplum

Amrita Singh Sag Harbor Necklace, Lapis 

Gucci d'Orsay Pumps, Camel
Michael Kors Watch
Hermes & J. Crew Bracelets
Melie Bianco Ariana Bag (giveaway win via Kileen of Cute and Little)

Handkerchief Peplum Tutorial

So how do you make a handkerchief peplum?  Remember my pencil skirt + removable peplum tutorial here?  Follow the same instructions to determine the radius for your waist cut-out.

Cut out that arc and then hem your edges.  Voila, handkerchief peplum!

(Note: Since this fabric was a plain white solid, I folded it into quarters and cut out the waist.  This results in a large square with a circle in the middle.  Simply cut from one edge of your square up to the circle, hem the cut edges, and add closure to get your removable peplum.)

What kind of peplum do you prefer - round, handkerchief, other?

PFC #17: Candy Colorized

It's time for PFC #17!  I've always enjoyed participating in these challenges and I'm so excited about hosting this one.  I can't wait to see everyone's colorful posts!  :)

The Challenge: Candy Colorized

Take a bowl full of colorful candies (M&Ms, Jolly Ranchers, jelly beans, etc.), close your eyes, and draw 2-3 pieces.  Now use those colors (+ a neutral of your choosing) to form the basis for your ensemble.

**Extra brownie points if you post more than 1 colorful ensemble or if you add a DIY element (because I love DIYs so much!) :D**

For this challenge, I used some leftover jelly beans and drew green, purple, and orange.  I wracked my brain on how to combine them as solids, but simply wasn't able to put something together that looked good.  Prints made life much easier.

Green Top + Orange / Purple / Green / White / Fuchsia Skirt + Purple Sandals + Green Ring

Banana Republic Top

J. Crew Number 2 Pencil Skirt, Garden Floral (buy here)

Frye Sandals

Amrita Singh Shelter Island Ring (buy here)

Michael Kors Tortoiseshell Watch

Banana Republic Bracelet

Other options I played with:

Lavender Striped Top + Peachy Coral Necklace + Mint Jeans + Purple Sandals

LOFT Striped Dress (worn as top)

LOFT Modern Straight Leg Jeans

Frye Sandals

Gifting Grace Necklace

A 2-color pairing was much easier:

 

Orange Print Top + Peachy Coral Necklace + Green Maxi Dress + Green Bracelet & Ring

Banana Republic Button Down

Old Navy Maxi Dress

Gifting Grace Necklace

Lands' End Canvas Double Wrap Leather Bracelet (buy here)

H&M Ring

Be sure to check out each and every one of these lovely participants.  They are (in order of sign-up):

Sydney's Fashion Diary

KTRStyle

Stylish Petite

New Petite

Toronto Beauty Reviews

Long Live Classy

Squigglesss

Katattack

Tiny Bits of Nonsense

Petite Therapy

SS-littleflowers

Mix and Match Fashion

Phiphi's Blog

Shorty-Stories

The Petite Fitting Room

Easy Petite Looks

LaBelleMel

A Petite Treat

Couture Coco

Petite Stylist

2 Petite

La Conception Des Femmes - Kerry
La Conception Des Femmes - Isabel

Simply Yvonne

To Brighten My Day

Petite Adventures

Dieting Fashions
That's a Pretty Hat
Fast Food and Fast Fashion
With Each Passing Day
The Petite Bow
Vicky's Daily Fashion
Petite in the City
Created N His Image
A Preponderance of Fashion
Flan Remix
Yoo Hoo, Anhie Boo
A Fashion Deliberation
Oh the Endless Possibilities
Keeyatch
Noniq Diary
Extra Petite

Please let me know if I accidentally left you off the list or if there's something wrong with your link!

How do you mix your colors?

Past PFC Entries:
  PFC #16: Summer Wedding (Under $100)
  PFC #15: Chic Pin-spiration
  PFC #13: Professional Under $100

  PFC #12: From Night to Day

  PFC #11: Vacation Vogue

  PFC #10: Summer to Fall

  PFC #9: Heat Wave Appropriate

  PFC #7: Little Black Dress

  PFC #6: Dress Up Your Basics

  PFC #4: Holiday Party

  PFC #3: The Look for Less

  PFC #2: Wear it Now, Wear it Later  

Polka Dot Skirt DIY

Still thinking of the J. Crew Elinor dress (fitting room review here), I was delighted to see this blue / white polka dot fabric on sale.  I thought about making my own version of the dress but decided to opt for a skirt instead to pair with various tops.

I'm currently obsessed with green / blue combinations and wanted to give it a try with the resulting skirt.  I fell in love with this blouse when I saw it on Jean here, but went to the store too late to buy it.  One day, I found what must have been a return and snapped it up.  I love the vibrant green!

H&M Double Placket Blouse 

DIY Polka Dot Skirt

DIY 5-Strand Pearls

Banana Republic Pearls / Chain Bracelet

Michael Kors Tortoiseshell Watch

Gucci d'Orsay Pumps, Camel

I'll need to post a better picture of the skirt in the future because you can't really see the box pleats.  I'd also like to play around with different pairings like the gingham / dot combo in this Pinterest image (repinned from Aubrey).

When it comes to dots, do you like pairing them with solids or prints?

DIY Fuchsia + Gray Bow Neck Dress

Quickie post today: I'm still obsessed with color blocking though this one is much more mild - incorporating fuchsia with a medium gray.

Dress:  Fuchsia + Gray DIY Bow Neck Dress

Belt:  J. Crew Factory Metallic Webbing Belt

Shoes:  Talbots Flower Bouquet Ballet Flats, Gray Flint

Sunnies:  Michael Kors

Bag:  Balenciaga Twiggy, Anthracite

A closer view

I used this tutorial to make the dress (2 rectangles of 25 x 33") and then just added a gray border and sash.  What do you think?  I love the giant bow :)