Floral Patch Lace Top with Ruffle Sleeves Refashion

This little lace top with a peter pan collar was one of my absolute favorite tops a couple of years ago. I wore it back in 2014 with my Denim Skirt Lace Refashion. Unfortunately, some of the dye from the top transferred onto the collar and it got put aside in my "to refashion" pile. 

I originally bought these embroidered lace patches for another project, which I will share this upcoming year. I love these patches because they're nice size and they can instantly add a pop of interest to a top, backpack, etc. I had an extra pair and decided it was time to upgrade my once (and currently!) favorite top.  They were also an excellent match to this floral fabric I had in my fabric stash. Honestly, I can't remember where it is from, but it is a super soft double brushed poly. 

STEPS:

1. I pinned the patches where I wanted them to be and I hand sewed them on. Yes, this was quite time consuming, but I had way more control around all the little curves and edges of the patch design. 

I also cut off the collar.

2. Next, it was time to finish off the neckline.

To do this, I cut a piece of fabric 2" (width) and 85% of the length of the neckline (length).

I folded it in half once...

... and folded in the top and bottom, as shown below...

... and folded & pressed that in half again. :)

3. Then it was time to attach the neck binding. I pinned the right side of the neck binding to the wrong side of the lace top. Stretch the binding to fit the neckline. :)

4. After I sewed the seam in step 3, I folded the binding over and pinned to the top of the lace shirt, as shown below.

This is what it looks like completely folded over.

Finished the neck binding!

5. I still felt like this lace top needed a little extra pop, so I added some ruffles on the sleeves.

I measured the sleeve opening, as shown by the pink dots. I doubled this measurement and added about 5-6", plus 1/2" for seam allowance. You can add more inches to this measurement, depending on the amount of desired gathering.

6. I cut out two rectangles (soon to be ruffles), using the measurement from step 5. The width is up to you, depending on how wide you want your ruffles.

7. I sewed a gathering stitch along the top of the rectangle. 

I also folded the rectangle in half, right sides together and sewed it closed. 

8. Once I gathered it, I turned it inside out.

9. Next, the ruffle was pinned to the sleeve, right sides together.

All sewn up and ready!

TA DA!