The thoughts, sewing projects, and fabric oglings of a dedicated sewist.

Style Arc Darla Peplum Top

3/20/14
Yep, more pattern hacking going on in my sewing studio! In my last hack, I took a top pattern and made a dress, and for this one I'm doing the reverse. I took Style Arc's Darla dress and turned it into a peplum top!




This was partly done out of necessity. I really loved this fabric combo but I didn't have enough of the polka dot to make a dress without more piecing than I wanted to take on.

Rayon double knit from GorgeousFabrics.com and magenta polka dot from GirlCharlee.com

And I also love peplum tops - perfect for those of use who need a little waist definition. To make the peplum, I traced off the top 10 inches of the skirt pieces from the Darla pattern as I wanted to continue the color block through the peplum. I divided each piece into two or three sections, and did a slash and spread, adding 2 inches to each spread.

Center Front and Side Front pieces - I did a slash and spread and
then traced off the new pieces.

I'm going to write a review on PatternReview.com with changes to the facing instructions based on my experience and the help that I received from Anne at The Clothing Engineer. I also want to give a shout out to Chloe at Style Arc. She listened to my feedback and is going to change the instructions - how's that for good customer service!

I also wanted to go through my thinking on color blocking this pattern. The other versions I've seen all have the contrast color at the shoulder yoke as well as center back & front. I opted to not have the contrast fabric at the shoulder yoke as I was pretty sure this would emphasize my shoulders, and I try to downplay them as they are the widest part of my body. I think using the contrast fabric at the shoulder would be a great option for ladies with a narrow upper body who want to balance wider hips.




Next up in personal sewing is the Style Arc Marni Ponti Jacket. The fabric I have picked out will look perfect with this top and I'll have a nice combo for Spring.

Speaking of Spring, this is what I saw when I looked out the window this morning:


Luckily all this snow melted off by late morning and we might actually get a little taste of spring today!
5 comments on "Style Arc Darla Peplum Top"
  1. I love these two fabrics together! VERY cute. I'm hopeful we get a heaping helping of spring soon, but I'm not overly optimistic.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I really like your Darla peplum top. You won't have any trouble making the dress now.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's great to see the Darla made up (even the shorter version) and what a wonderful fabric combo you used.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Looks good :) Pretty poses too ;)

    ReplyDelete