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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!

Comfy lightweight denim ruffle top

Notice a trend in my recent sewing? I love denim. I've been wearing a lot of it (mixed denim jackets and jeans, even!) and have now made two dresses (1, 2) and this top out of this perfect lightweight denim from one of the apparel collections at JoAnn. And I made this lightweight pinstripe denim dress the other week!

A long time ago I shared how to make a peplum top out of any dress pattern. Important stuff, people. This top uses method #2: a simple short gathered skirt attached at the waist of the bodice, in place of the skirt-length real skirt.

Except, to create a looser top, I didn't put in the darts on this Simplicity 1873 bodice, and I cut it out a size too big. (I chose this pattern because it does have a substantial bust dart in the side seam, which I did add for shaping. It is a very versatile pattern--see all my uses of it here!)

As a dress pattern, it's meant to be lined, but this denim is perfect for an unlined finish so I used single fold bias tape and trimmed away some excess seam allowance around the neckline and arm openings to give the same finished dimensions with a bias binding.

Loose = no zipper! Easy to sew and wear!

Of course it goes great with white jeans! (Who can wait till after Memorial Day to wear them!?!??!) I layered it under a boxy lightweight coat.
Jacket: J.Crew via Goodwill. Jeans: Lucky Brand via Goodwill. Purse: Nine West (similar). Shoes: Target old. Top: DIY!


Now bring on more warm weather like we've been having!

7 comments

  1. Oooooooh....I have some striped chambray that I wasn't sure what to do with. I'll bet it would be perfect for this!

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  2. So perfectly executed. I've been really loving chambray as well, it's a little softer and more girly than denim but still on trend. Great work!

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  3. I've been loving and totally inspired by your denim creations lately! I just found the huge denim dress that I thrifted sometime last year with the intentions of making it into a cute little dress. Now that I know where it is, I just need to finish the projects I have going right now so I can get to it! :o)

    JJ
    www.dressupnotdown.blogspot.com

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  4. It's beautiful! I should give it a try soon :)

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  5. That sounds so fun!! I should look at thrift stores for old denim shirt dresses or something, would be great refashions!

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  6. That sounds fun!! I should look at thrift stores for old denim shirt dresses or something, would be great refashions!

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  7. Thanks!! Chambray is cute too! I think I talked about the difference between chambray and denim in this post! http://www.create-enjoy.com/2014/06/the-perfect-comfy-lightweight-denim.html

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