How to Make a Driftwood Peplum Blouse

I recently asked my daughter if she had any ideas about how she would like her new Driftwood Blouse to look. She drew a picture for me, which she described as "a shirt with a tutu attached". I interpreted this as a peplum with a slightly dropped waist. She loves that it has all of the playground convenience of a shirt, while still feeling a bit ruffly and fancy.

In order to make the Driftwood Peplum blouse, simply make the following modification to the Front + Back pattern piece. The dimensions for the peplum ruffle needn't be exact - here I have made the ruffle twice the width of the blouse. You may find that you will need a bit of extra fabric yardage to accommodate cutting the two peplum ruffle pieces.

1. Draw a line 1" (2.5 cm) below the dress waistband line on the Driftwood Front + Back pattern piece. Cut along the line you have just drawn to create two pieces.

2. Add 3/8" (1 cm) to the bottom of your altered Front + Back piece (marked in pink in the photo below). This will account for the seam allowance. Cut your Blouse Front + Back pieces on the fold as indicated in the pattern instructions.

3. The bottom of the blouse piece will be transformed into the peplum ruffle pattern piece. Add 3/8" (1 cm) to the height of this piece (marked in pink in the photo below) and double the width of this piece. Cut two ruffle pieces on the fold.

4. Sew the blouse as instructed in the pattern tutorial, but do not hem.

5. Sew the short ends of the ruffle pieces together and finish these seams with a zigzag stitch or overlocker/serger.

6. Fold up one long edge of the ruffle 3/8" (1 cm) and press. Fold again and press to create the hem for the ruffle. Stitch along the edge of the hem, just catching the fold.

7. Sew two lines of gathering stitches along the un-hemmed long edge of the ruffle piece. Gather the ruffle until it is the same width as your blouse. For a more detailed description, have a look at the How to Gather Fabric tutorial.

8. Turn your peplum ruffle piece wrong side out and your blouse right side out. Slip the blouse inside the peplum ruffle aligning the bottom (unfinished) edge of the blouse with the gathered edge of the peplum ruffle. They should be right sides together. Distribute the ruffles evenly and pin.

9. Stitch the peplum ruffle to the blouse with a 3/8" (1 cm) seam allowance. Overlock/serge or zigzag this seam to finish.

Enjoy your breezy new Driftwood Peplum!