Red Peplum Winner...

Thank you so much for your input!  I loved your comments and took your votes to heart.  In the end, I went with Option #1, which had the most votes.  To finish off the neckline, I added a biased edge from the project scraps.

I also loved your idea to pair the top with a statement necklace.  I decided on a necklace that I made a few years ago, using pearls and sea glass.  This went nicely with a 100% silk brocade Tori Richard skirt that I found at Goodwill (with the tags on!) for $4 and a pair of purple heels that I scored for $3.50. 

I can't wait to wear my new red peplum this Holiday season!

  

Frumpy to Fabulous Peplum Top

I have some exciting news!  I'll now be posting over at Refashion Co-op, a blog where fellow refashionistas share their latest projects.  My first post is a lovely plaid peplum top.

But... it didn't start out so lovely.

See what I mean?

I picked this top up at an estate sale for $0.25 and knew right away that it would be perfect for a peplum top.

Frumpy Top Refashion

Talk about frumpy!  I found this piece at a garage sale down the street for $2, and although I loved the black and white print, it was way too frumpy. 

Dotty looking frumpy.

 
I guessed that it would be an easy fix, so I put it on Dotty (inside out), and began to size it up.  

Lots of excess baggage here.

Once the shirt was sized up, I took it off Dotty and cut the sleeves off at about three quarters length.  

I then pinned the excess material on the sleeves to match with rest of the top.

After stitching up the sides, I cut off the excess material and sewed a double hem around the sleeves.  In no time, I had a super cute, frumpless top.