DIY Ruffled Hem Shirt Tutorial

When I saw Wendy wear this ruffled cami, I fell in love with the romantic cascade of fabric and decided to attempt my own.  I went for a more casual look with a shorter ruffle and stripes for visual interest under solid tops.  You can also certainly wear it on its own.  The concept is simply a peplum top with a dropped waist.  The peplum is also modified into a hi-lo type of hem.

Difficulty: Easy

Time: ~1.5 hrs

Pattern:

• Basic Tank Tutorial for the sleeveless top
• Peplum instructions below

Materials:

• 1 yard knit fabric

Steps:
A peplum is essentially composed of circles.  The outer circle is the peplum ruffle while the inner circle is cut out to fit your torso.

• Use the Basic Tank Tutorial from above to create your top.  You may need to shorten the length to slightly below your belly button in order for your ruffle to hit where you want it.
• Measure the hem of your top and divide it by 6.28 (this is essentially 2 * pi) to get your radius and then determine how long you want your peplum to be.
• My radius was 6".  I wanted the longest part of my peplum to be 9" and the shortest to be 6".
• Add your radius to your peplum length to get your circle size.  Mine was 15".  Using your measurement, cut out a square (mine was 15x15").
• Fold your square in half and in half once more.  Using a ruler, measure out your desired radius from your center point (where all the folds connect) and mark with chalk all around until you get the semblance of a quarter circle.  Do the same thing for your peplum length.  Cut out the inner circle and outer circle.

• If you were making a normal peplum, you'd be finished.  In order to create the hi-lo hem, you'll shorten the peplum length of one side.  To do this, fold your peplum in half once.  Using the same method as above, mark 6", 7",  and 8" to gradually meet back up to your 9" length.  Cut.

•  You'll wind up with kind of an oblong donut:

• Connect your peplum to the hem of your tank and then finish your edges.  I folded mine inwards and sewed.

Side view

You're finished!

Pin-spired: Striped Skirt w/ Lace Overlay DIY

Lately, I've been re-perusing my Pinterest inspiration board to get sewing ideas and came across 2 pins (Jean's lace dress and a sheer skirt overlay) that made me want to experiment with lace and stripes.

The result?

Difficulty: Easy

Time: ~1.5 hrs

Pattern: See patterning instructions here, but used normal pleats instead of box pleats

Materials:

• 1 yard of lace + 1 yard of striped fabric
• 9" invisible zipper
• Optional interfacing (more info in this tutorial)

Excited to tackle more Pinterest projects in the future!