WELCOME

Hello! I'm Suzannah, a serious DIYer and mom of two little ones. Follow along with my DIY fixer upper house renovations, sewing and crafty projects, real food recipes, and de-stressing goals.
I believe you can love your home just the way it is, AND have the power to design and make big changes to make it better.
I'm also the author of DIY Wardrobe Makeovers!

Experimental peplum tank refashion

So this one's a long time coming. Obvs the peplum trends has hit us full-force, even on basics like knit tees and tanks. I'm a big fan of my seersucker peplum top and peplum-skirted party dress, but I wanted to try the look with a knit, for something a little more casual. So I experimented! Got creative with an old tank and refashioned it by giving it a peplum skirt of some sort-of matching grey cotton double knit I had leftover from an old project.

It really was an experiment (you'll see...) so I used a super old tank that was fraying at the hem anyway. It's ribbed, and a little heavier than a basic tee, so I thought it would hold up to the extra weight of the ruffled peplum on the bottom.

Before...

Then I added a gathered and hemmed row of the knit fabric as a skirt. Because it was just old pieces, I went with the shapes I had and used a long, skinny piece along the selvage. This made it much easier to hem but, I think, made the gathering way less smooth than if I'd gone along with the ribbing texture.

Anyway, the "after"...

I like that it's casual and easy, cause it's a tank, but it definitely has more style than it did before!

Like I said I probably should have cut the fabric on the grain, rather than across it, but hey, next time. Other than that, this was a pretty successful refashioning experiment!  I'd like to do it again, but will have to play around with fabric weights. It worked well to use such a basic color that I could match to with the peplum, but the double knit is too heavy to go on a basic tee. I guess if the right thing presents itself, I'll happily make another!

I know this look has been around in the past few months... have you made anything like this or seen any great inspirations?? I'd love to hear!

19 comments

  1. So so so cute! I love how it turned out!

    ReplyDelete
  2. So cute! I wonder how it would look with a woven fabric on bottom? Maybe a coordinating print? I might have to try that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It could work, maybe! A woven fabric would certainly be easier to gather.

      Delete
  3. Your experoment turned out great! I love it! I will def try it next summer :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous7/26/2012

    Can you elaborate a little more on how you did this, I would love to do this!

    ReplyDelete
  5. That's super cute on you! I have a bunch of plain ribbed tanks in multi-colors. The peplum is like a tiny skirt, so I might do something similar by adding a skirt to the bottom of the tank in a contrasting color and turn it into a casual dress. Now my head is spinning with all sorts of ideas about refashioning them.… cutting them up and color-blocking them back together…

    ReplyDelete
  6. I really like this one! I can't wear the look around my waist (makes me look even larger) but, it looks fab on you!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I would definitely call this a success, and +1 for how easy it is! I really might just try it this weekend, if I do I'l send you a pic :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I was just thinking of trying something like this the other day. I was thinking of looking for thicker knit tees at goodwill.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good call. I love my mini skirt I made out of a thicker 90's tee! http://www.adventuresindressmaking.com/2011/09/black-and-white-stripe-upcycle-shirt.html

      Delete
  9. This looks so good, I love how you made a peplum into a casual piece, so often they're more dressy. I haven't adopted the peplum trend, but I really want to soon!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love it... too cute.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love it... too cute.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am not a big fan of the peplum trend but that is really cute! I have some rib knit tanks like that (wearing a purplish maroon one right now actually!) and I always seem to get a bleach line on the lower tummy from cleaning my kitchen counters :( That and they are getting a bit short with the baby belly expanding but this would fix them right up! Thank you for the great inspiration! *hugs*
    Bonnie MS
    www.etsy.com/shop/RidingTheBonnieWay
    ridingthebonnieway.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, thanks! OMG, this kind of thing would be perfect for maternity!! You could just make them empire waist, too, and make the skirt part not so full. Or you could do a high-low look and make it higher in the front! Cute!

      Delete
  13. Very cute, It really adds to the tank top.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oooh... I like that alot! Every time I read your blog, it makes me want to race to the sewing machine! -Marci

    ReplyDelete
  15. How cute is that. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

Search

© Create / Enjoy • Theme by Maira G.