When I celebrated my first businessiversary in 2015 I compiled a HUGE blog tour highlighting some pretty fantastic bloggers.  If you weren’t around then, I highly recommend going back and checking it out.  So much inspiration. Full Collections of Posts Here

The theme of the blog tour was Remix the Stitch, where the bloggers took one of my patterns and remixed it any way they wanted.  The end result was a huge collection of pattern hacks, so many I never would have thought of.

The blog tour was a beast to organize and pull off so I haven’t repeated it, yet, but I love what it challenged the bloggers to do so I want to continue it in some way.  Getting multiple uses out a pattern is such a fun challenge, one that I don’t do often enough.  I am changing that…

Starting today I will be sharing a new pattern remix every month, using one of my patterns as the base.  The inspirations will be coming from ready to wear I see and love or an idea that I am convinced will work great with one of my patterns.  To go along with the post there will be a monthly feature pattern for 15% off, and you guessed it the pattern being featured will depend on which one I am using that month.  If you want to join along I will be sharing my makes on social media with the #remixthestitch.  There is so much inspiration already at the hashtag, go have a look.

To kick off this new fun series I am sharing a remix that is a year in the making.  A simple peplum top made with the Montlake as the base.  While the hack might be simple the finished result is beyond fabulous and exactly what I was envisioning.  The loose flowy cut of the Montlake pattern was the perfect base for the remix.  

The key for me was getting the right proportions for the top.  I wanted the gathering to hit me right at the natural waist and be no longer than high hip.  Anything more would have gone into the realm of tunic which wasn’t the look I was going for.  Knowing my own style and the clothes I grab for, having a top to wear with jeans and flats is pretty much a must.  But if you are more of a tunic and leggings gal, you could easily make the peplum longer to cover your bum.

The light grey stripes paired with the gathering of the peplum skirt make this a top that I will keep coming back to.  The fabric pictured is from Imagine Gnats which is unfortunately all sold out, but I promise you will find another great knit from Rachel for this top.  

I have discovered over the last year that I am not a fan at all of long sleeve shirts.  I am either always pushing them up or avoid the shirt all together, so I am trying to be more mindful of that when sewing clothes.  On the other hand, elbow or 3/4 sleeve tops are my happy place for most of the year.  These sleeves hit somewhere in between the two and pair well with the top.  Considering I have worn this top a few times since sewing I can say all elements are pretty great.

To make your own relaxed flowy peplum top you first need to determine where you want the peplum to hit you.  As I said before, I wanted the ruffles to start at my natural waist so I needed to determine that measurement.  It’s pretty easy to get that measurement on your own, just make sure to stand up straight.  Put the end of the measuring tape at your shoulder and find the point that the tape hits your natural waist.  I prefer to use the metric side of my measuring tape because it makes adding seam allowance so much easier.  Once you have your number, in my case it was 41cm, add 2 cm for the seam allowance at the shoulder and waist.  Then just go to your pattern piece for the front and mark the new bottom seam of the bodice.  Match up the side seams for the front and back pieces and you are golden.

The final part is to determine how gathered you want your peplum to be.  I opted for just slightly gathered so that it didn’t create too much bulk at my waist.  The other thing to consider is the fabric you will be using, in this case the fabric had great drape so I knew it wouldn’t bump out too much at the waist.  I chose to measure the bottom of the top at my new length and then multiply that measurement by 1.5.  That gives me slight gathering.

Considering I have made the Montlake pattern dozens and dozens of times I knew what the finished length was on the top and how to adjust it for my vision.  If this is the first time you have sewn the Montlake than you can repeat the measuring from above but this time hold the measuring tape at your waist and mark the point when it is your desired length.  Again add 2 cm for seam allowance and hem.

The construction of the top from the waist up is exactly the same as the pattern states.  For the peplum you will sew the front and back piece together along the short ends and gather along the top.  With right sides together slip your tee into your peplum pieces.  Sew the peplum to your tee using a serger or zig zag stitch with a 3/8″ seam allowance.

This remix is so easy you can make a bunch in an afternoon with a bit of batch sewing.  If you haven’t already grabbed your copy of Montlake you can find the pattern here.  Just make sure to use code MONTLAKE15 to save 15% at checkout for the pdf pattern.