J. Crew Knock-Off {Tutorial}

It's Spring Top Week over at Made By Rae and this year I get to participate! I just missed it last year because...I didn't know how to sew. Now that we've solved that problem, I'm excited to show you my inspiration.

I saw this sweet little shirt at J. Crew and fell in love. I loved the pintuck-pleated neckline. I didn't, however, like the price. $58. No thank you.



So I decided to recreate one for myself. Only instead of linen, I wanted to use knit, and wanted a few less pleats. I also made it extra long, because I can never find shirts as long as I like them.

(How do we feel about the curls?? I'm loving them right now.)

I decided to angle my pintucks to create a more unique shape rather than sew them straight down.

Want to make your own??

It's super simple and you may could even do it to a shirt you already own!

First, cut a front and back out of knit, using a tank you already have that fits well. Add just a little extra width to the front where you'll be doing the pintucks.

Fold your front piece in half, WRONG sides together and pin down the middle at the top.

Sew with an itty-bitty seam allowance as far down as you want the pleated look to go. I went the deepest on the middle pleat.

Move over about 1/4" and make another pleat on each side of  the middle one.

Keep going until you have as many as you want. You can do the back too, but I only wanted the front.

Iron your pleats from the back to open up your fabric.

Make some bias tape out of your knit and sew it onto the neckline to finish it.

Finish your armholes as desired, by roll-hemming or using bias tape, then sew the shoulders and sides together.

You've got a very sweet, J. Crew-esque top!

I wore this the other day and Hubby asked me where I bought it. SCORE!! I love it when things don't LOOK homemade. And the shirt is super comfy, so it will get lots of love this summer.