DIY Scalloped Vest Top

Scallop detail has been huge this summer, it's a great way to make a plain t-shirt,dress or even shorts more interesting and stylish. Whilst shopping a few weeks ago I saw a plain red scalloped vest, however after looking at it closely I noticed how easy it must have been to make, it was only two seams after all! I decided to make one myself. Not only would it be cheaper, it would also mean that I could choose my own pattern.

It is extremely important to use a jersey material as it does not fray, otherwise the scallop detailing will not work, I bought a purple floral pattern from John Lewis for £9. I thought it was going to be extremely awkward cutting the detail into my vest, then it hit me, craft scissors. They're quite cheap and create perfect waves in the material.
Firstly I folded the material over and got one of my favourite vests to copy the shape and lay it down on the jersey material I had chosen. It is important to lay the top of the vest where the material folds over and when you draw around the vest do not cut along the top of the straps as it means you to have to stitch them back together.

Make sure that you leave around a 2cm gap when you are drawing around the vest so that when you sew it together it remains your correct size.  You then need to cut with normal scissors up the sides following your lines as you do not want the sides to be scalloped as you wont be able to see it. Cut along the hem, neckline and straps with your craft scissors to create the scalloping effect, making sure you do not disconnect the front and back straps. If the neckline is too high you can adjust it neatly by folding the original vest in half and lining the straps up with the straps on your scalloped top, drawing the half curve and then flipping it and drawing the  curve from the other side. You then just follow the curve you have drawn with your craft scissors and the neckline should be the same as the one on the original vest. You then just flip the top inside out, line up the sides and stitch a straight line on each side using a thread with a similar colour to the top you have made. Then turn it the right way round and it should fit perfectly.

Once you've done it once it will be much easier to recreate in various different colours and patterns. With just a few simple tweaks you could even make a scalloped dress.