Peplum Shirt #1 :)

Peplum Shirt #1 is finished! And I am thrilled 'bout it :D.  

Last month at the VV I picked up a bag that happened to have, eh, nearly 6 yards I think of wonderful grey knit.  It's thin, but not so thin as to be sheer or anything, just thin enough to not be heavy.  And it has a drapey/bouncy feel to it which is sweet :).  It stretches very easily though...I'm not sure if this is typical for knit since I've never really sewn with knit before, but I found I had to stay stitch a lot of it so it didn't get wonky. 

I was prompted to do peplum shirt because it has princess seams which allow for a small waist and larger bust, and the actual peplum part of it, which gives room for larger hips.  (and it just looks twirly :D) I also just really liked this style.  In the beginning I tried to draw a pattern from a dress in my closet.  The dress fits decent but when I sewed up the muslin....it fit horrid.  I didn't try a second time, just moved onto another way of doing it.  I've draped on others before, but never on myself.  This was quite the experience!  Not that this would work for everyone, but it worked well I think, for me. And I didn't have to worry about doing a Full Bust Adjustment, which was nice :D 

So what I did, was literally drape the fabric over myself, pin it to myself, and then draw with chalk where I wanted the neckline, armhole, shoulder seams, front seams, waist line, etc.  And then I cut it all out, and sewed it together. 

For the skirt, I used the waist measurement, and divided it by 6.28.  Then I drew a quarter of a circle with that number, put 8 inches as the length, and then made a larger 1/4 circle line at the bottom.  Wow, that reads in a very confusing manner.  I did this. :)

For the sleeves, I just drew out a basic sleeve shape and sewed it to the armhole. :) They are more like cap sleeves than t-shirt sleeves, but that is what I wanted.  I had originally thought flutter/ruffle sleeves, but I will most likely save those for the next peplum top I make. 

I was feeling like a royal Greek something-or-other all wrapped in that fabric, so I did the queen wave....but after taking the picture I realized that was British, and not Roman. :P

yes, I was using the webcam screen as a mirror so I could see where
to draw. :P

Here are some finished pictures.  I will be wearing my peplum shirts with this long black skirt, since I don't wear skinny jeans plain, and I don't have any pencil skirts (I also read pencil skirts can make you look shorter....and I'm petite anyways so).

We have a variety of zippers in different lengths and colors in the stash, but nothing longer than 9in.  The day I finished this shirt, a friend happened to give us a sewing chest/table thing and inside was a bundle of 19in zippers, one of them being grey.  I think I only used 14 inches of it, but still FREE, and perfect! :)

Those pull lines coming from the side seam-that's ease.  The front piece was a good bit longer than the back piece, and I didn't know how to put them together unless I eased it.  

I hemmed the neckline and the bottom edge of the peplum, but I chose not to hem the sleeves.  I'm not really sure why I did that, but I think it looks better this way. 

One thing I found helpful while working on this shirt, was a page on proportions. Here is the link.

So that was peplum shirt #1 for ya! Hope you liked it! :) Tell me what you think, and if you have tips or ideas for my next one. 

~Theresa :)