As I was perched upon MY personal peplum pulpit, preaching the praises of this perky pattern, who knew many of the others were petrified of this popular trend.
(Say that five times real fast) 
But come to find out, there are many out there afraid of this flattering silhouette.
WHO KNEW???!!??
But true to Refashion Runway style, these lovely ladies, overcame their fear of peplums and once again created some outstanding transformations for you!
Let’s start with Susan from Second Chances by Susan.
”I have to admit when I saw that one of the challenges was “peplum,” I was a little apprehensive. I don’t think I have anything with a peplum, and didn’t know if I really wanted something with a peplum. But a challenge is a challenge, so I jumped in.
I started with two shirts—a denim blouse that fit me okay, and a men’s plaid
shirt. I also perused through my stash of lace and found some extra wide vintage
eyelet lace that I had salvaged quite a while ago from the bottom of a petticoat.
After choosing a piece of flat lace that was given to me recently, along with a
scrap of ruffled eyelet lace, and I was ready to start.
I cut the denim shirt at the waist, and also cut away the button placket and
collar. I stitched darts in the front and back bodice to make it fitted. The
original cuffs were cut away and I added a bit larger, non-buttoned cuffs with
some lace trim.
To make the collar lay flat around the neckline, I made several small darts in the
lace at the back of the neck. The vintage lace was added to the bottom, creating
the peplum.
I added some vintage buttons that reminded me of lace, along with buttonholes to
the front for decoration. I chose to leave them nonfunctional since the jacket is
meant to be left open. i also flanked the buttons and buttonholes with top
stitching to give the illusion of a placket. I accessorized with a necklace I had
previously made from old watches and broken jewelry pieces.
I lined the jacket (front and back bodice, and cuffs) with the plaid shirt,
retaining the original shirt pocket which is now a “secret” pocket on the inside!
I added a hook and eye to the waist to keep that jacket closed when wearing it
with a belt. It can also be worn open for a more casual look.
So my feelings about a peplum now? I love it! I can’t wait to pair the jacket
with a skirt or shift dress. If you would like to see a picture tutorial of how
the jacket was made, please visit my blog, Second Chances by Susan. Thanks!”-Susan
***
Now, let’s see what Carissa from Carissa Knits has created.
“This dress, lovingly handmade by someone’s mother years ago, came into my
possession by way of our local Freecycle group. The gifter told me of her
mother’s love of sewing and her own hopes of finding someone who would
appreciate the work that went into this dress (and several others she gave
me) and who could give it new life again. This week’s challenge seemed the
perfect time to do just that!
Since there was clearly no part of the dress that fit me or was still in
style, I knew I would have to start from scratch. And because this denim
was a nice even tone throughout, it was ideal for a pieced-together
refashion. Loosely based on a photo I found on Pinterest – but modified for
modesty – I drafted a pattern to my measurements. Then I cut my pieces from
the original dress and began the reassembly process.
I used darts to shape the skirt, bust, and back. I included a slit in the
skirt for walking room. And of course, the peplum – angled flaps in the
front and straight across the back. Finally, I installed a zipper I
purchased for $2.49 – the only cost for this project – and I was finished!
The result is sleek enough for a night on the town, but modest enough to be
paired with a blazer or cardigan for work.
I’ll post more details and photos on CarissaKnits.com!”-Carissa
***
Trish, from Feeling Kinda Thrifty has some more muumuu magic for us this week.
(Apparently “muumuu” is the correct spelling. I’ve been spelling it “mumu”. Learn something new everyday. My apologies for the past misspellings of this marvelous word.)
“While shopping at a Goodwill fundraiser a few weekends ago, a friend of mine pulled this gem off the rack, and we both burst out laughing. Yet, I found myself mesmerized by the super funky print. It had potential, and it was definitely unique. It’s not every day that one finds a *corduroy*muumuu made in Hawaii!
Initially, I had plans to make this piece into a tame pencil skirt. I thought that perhaps it needed to be paired with a solid color in order to bring it down a few notches. However, when the peplum challenge came around, I knew right away that my funky corduroy muumuu would be perfect!
The sleeves were transformed into the bodice. I used the rounded shoulders to make the sweetheart neckline and added a princess line down the front. The top needed some shape, so I added boning in the seams. There was plenty of fabric for the skirt, so I used my dress form to size a large rectangular piece. I then attached the two sections.
Before adding the band around the middle, I created the peplum. I wanted to play around with the shape of it, so I first used a piece of scrap fabric. I cut out an arch and pinned to one half of the dress. I ended up adding some pleats on the sides and cutting away a slope at the middle and back. This scrap piece became my pattern for the corduroy peplum. Once the peplum was sewn around the middle, I added the band. To make the dress pop (as if it needed any help), I added a deep red bias tape around the peplum, top and bottom.
I am in love with my new corduroy peplum. It’s absolutely perfect for the Holidays!”-Trish
***
Now on to Deasrae from Gladness of Heart.
“Out of the entire gauntlet of Refashion Runway challenges, when I saw ‘Peplum’ was on the list, I knew exactly what I wanted to make! It was with that clear vision that I selected this huge, coral blazer!
Funny story. As the Goodwill clerk was ringing up and folding this coral creature, he gave me this look and said, “Now ma’am, do you see this tag…? Just leave this on, and if anything doesn’t fit, you can bring it back.” Obviously he was concerned. I just smiled and thanked him for the advice…little did he know that I had most specifically selected the biggest blazer I could find.
To get started, I ripped out the football jersey-worthy shoulder pads, removed the sleeves, and the pockets (which were sewn into the side seam). After measuring, I chopped off the bottom half of the blazer. I had great plans for that precious piece, so I laid it aside for later.
To get started, I ripped out the football jersey-worthy shoulder pads, removed the sleeves, and the pockets (which were sewn into the side seam). After measuring, I chopped off the bottom half of the blazer. I had great plans for that precious piece, so I laid it aside for later.
After doing some research, I was able to draft a circular pattern for my peplum- which I altered to be fuller and allow for pleats, as well a creating a graduating slant so the peplum was longer in the back. After some experimenting, I further altered and drafted a different pattern for the two panels in the front. All of these I pinned and sewed together into one long ruffle. Before attaching this to the blazer, I added some metalic and burgandy thread embelishment all the way along the bottom hem of the peplum. This pattern was repeated on the cuffs of the sleeves, to which I also added a button for appearance. After attaching the peplum, I covered up the resulting ugly seam with a Hong Kong inspired bias tape finish. To round off the look, I added two buttons to the lapel points.
This blazer was such a beautiful challenge and gave the opportunity to try lots of new things! I am so pleased with how it turned out! You can find more details and pictures of this process over at my blog!”-Desarae
***
Now from across the Atlantic, Magda from House of Estrela brings us her version of the peplum.
“I can say it has been my personal little hell week. I knew this wouldn’t be an easy one, but I wasn’t counting with a sick kid, and being sick myself too, while trying to come up with a design that would please me. The hardest part? I’m not very fond of peplums. I knew I wasn’t ready to just give up though. I’d make something for my daughter. The argument that refashioning grown up’s clothes to kids clothes is just resizing them doesn’t seem right to me, because that’s the same thing you do when turning men’s clothes to women’s clothes, right?!And I did the shorts peplum out of a dress my mom gave me a while ago!
And it looks so very cute on my little miss. Not to mention how much she loved it! I used a stripe from the bottom of the dress to make the peplum, and used existing shorts to trace the new ones. The cuffs were made out of the original tights from the dress, and the waist from another stripe, I just cut, sized to the right side and attached (detailed photos on my blog).
I also refashioned a top to go with the shorts. The top was pretty easy, I didn’t focus in doing something too elaborated. First, because I was short on time, and then because I just wanted to match my shorts. So, to see more pictures of the process, and how wrong things went this week, step by my blog.”-Magda
***
Lauren from The Aventures of Lauren is a new peplum convert, too.
“I will completely admit I am not a fan of peplum. I don’t really own a lot of peplum. I think it has to be just right for my figure as I am a bit boxy in my midsection and then have sticks for legs. But I thought if I could get it to hit at the right area, have the right length, and not be full I <think> I could pull it off.
I found this lovely black satin dress which after some research, I learned the company was a small couture house based in New York city!! This dress is quite epic, OH! Those sleeves!!! And it did not zip up.
Now I thought the way it was designed, I thought this would be an “easy” fix. I need to stop saying that b/c every time I say that, it is NEVER “easy”. I learned that the built in peplum was actually one massively gathered skirt. My original design plan went out the door.
For the bodice, I removed the poof sleeves and luckily the bodice had the perfect shape. I removed the skirt entirely from the too long drop waist. The drop waist was almost cut in half. The leftover fabric was then used to fill in the back so I could zip it up.
For the skirt and peplum, I created the main part of the skirt by cutting off at the gathering stitches. It was the perfect length for me. This was still way too huge so I cut that in half- one half for the peplum and the other for the skirt. I did a very mild gather on the peplum. Then connected all the parts together, made it fit, and gave it a hem! Done!
Here is my new little black PEPLUM dress! Which I can finally zip up! Now I am no longer afraid of peplum, I am actually more afraid of leather….”-Lauren
***
So there you have it.
The Peplum Challenge.
Perhaps you have been persuaded by the power of the peplum and will now have a preference for this playful profile. And perhaps, you too will become an appreciative and prolific producer of this positive appearance. Whatever your preference, you now have an opportunity to pitch your personal propensity toward a participant using the popular poll below:
Take Our Poll
The winner will be announced next Saturday, October 12.
Next week’s Refashion Runway Challenge: Leather
If you sew along with us, send your before and after photos to
bhunting@eoni.com
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