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DIY Ath-Flow Coverup: Refashion the Trend

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The pandemic has made for some really curious fashion trends, eh?

When lockdowns first began, we retreated into our comfiest clothes; sweats, hoodies, and baggy T-shirts. But as weeks have turned into months, and months into a year, a new trend is emerging.

It’s called Ath-Flow, and according to Pinterest, it’s poised to be the fashion trend of 2021.

But what is Ath-Flow?

When athleisure meets elegance – that’s athflow.

2021 Pinterest Trends Report

Ath-Flow encompasses clothing that can be worn on the yoga mat, at work (or a zoom meeting), to dinner and on the sofa when you get home.

And I am here for it.

I was eager to take a stab at this comfy-sounding trend when I bought this dress from the thrift store for $1.

refashionist ath flow coverup refashion before
Wait…this is NOT what you just described, lady.

Wait….what?!?!!! *insert record scratch noise*

Bear with me, here.

This dress appears to be from the ’80s-early ’90s and is more suited for an episode of Designing Women than a Vinyasa flow or watching a Bridgerton marathon on my couch (Yes…I binged that series hard).

designing women tv show promo image
Scooch over, ladies.

Don’t worry! I’m not keeping this dress as a dress (although I considered it)!

Oh no…This is dress is about to become a nice & elegant layering piece for my own Ath-Flow look!

First, I removed the skirt.

cutting off skirt from dress
Off ya go!

Then, I made a cut up the peplum on the front.

cutting up the front of the peplum
Snnnnip!

Next, I trimmed off the peplum entirely.

cutting off peplum
Don’t worry! you’ll be back!

My resoning for this is that I didn’t want that elastic waist cinching the middle of this piece at all. I’m going for a more flowy silhouette.

This meant I needed to remove the elastic from the detached peplum as well.

cutting elastic off of peplum
So many snips!

Now the top of my future coverup/jacket thing is open, and ready to have its de-elasticized peplum reattached!

But first, I needed to close up the raw edge from where I cut the peplum apart.

I pinned it down.

closing up raw edge of peplum
No raw edges to see here!

Then, I stitched it down as well!

stitching down side of peplum

Because I knew I wanted my peplum to be centered with the top part of the dress, and because measuring is boring, I just folded the peplum part in two and safety-pinned the center.

safety pin at center of peplum
Lookit where I’m pointing!

Then I did the same thing with the top of the dress.

safety pin at the center of top
I could just superimpose an arrow on images like these, but I’m lazy.

I laid the two pieces on top of each other (with right sides facing each other), making sure the safety pins were together.

peplum on top of top of dress
Simple!

I pinned them together…

pinning top of dress to peplum
Trust me, it was worth the extra work to remove the elastic.

…and stitched them together as well!

sewing peplum to top of dress
Whirrrr!

At this point, I had planned on not needing to take this refashion in at all, as I wanted it to be loose and comfy.

But when I tried it on, I discovered my coverup/jacket thing was more boxy on me than flowy (should have taken a pic, sorry!), and the sleeves looked weird.

Yes, a pic would be helpful. Yes I’m sorry I didn’t take one. :/

Soooo, I plopped my top on my dress form to take it in.

pinned side of top
Just a bit!

You can see how I kept the front of my top pinned together for this part to make it easier.

top on dress form
Do you like that shrine to myself in the background? lolz

I stitched each side down.

taking in side of dress
Sometimes a refashion needs a couple more steps than you anticipate, and that’s okay!

We’re almost done! All that’s left are the sides of the front. I just need to make them more jacket-y!

I put my coverup/jacket thing back on my dress form and got to work on the front.

Working around the collar was a little finicky, but after a couple of tries, I got everything to fold and drape nicely.

pinning front of top
There we go!

I stitched each side down, and was DONE.

sewing front of top
The final step!

Well…almost done (The Penny Trick)…

When I tried my coverup/jacket thing on it kept flying open, which I didn’t like. Sooooooo…I inserted a penny to weigh it down on each side!

When I showed it to Mr. Refashionista, he said, “That’s neat! You should make sure to share that tip with your readers!”

So, here ya go.

penny inserted in front of jacket
Maybe it’ll bring good luck too!

I ath-flowed to my porch to take a few “after” pics!

Refashionista DIY Ath-Flow Coverup after
Elegant, yet comfy!

I styled my new coverup with black yoga leggings, a fishnet-sleeve sweater, and a pair of sparkly TOMs (a Christmas gift from my MIL…Thanks Nancy!).

Refashionista DIY Ath-Flow Coverup after closer
And I LOVE it with this wig!!!!

Here it is from the back!

Refashionista DIY Ath-Flow Coverup after back view
Much better without teh elastic methinks!

I’m super-digging those ’80s shoulder details now that I’ve smoothed out the overall silhouette of this one.

Refashionista DIY Ath-Flow Coverup after funny pose
Pretty rad, amirite?

Here’s another peplum dress to jacket refashion you might like!
And here’s how to refashion a frumpy dress into a fitted peplum top!

And of course I have a pair of coordinating sunnies for this.

DIY Ath-Flow Coverup: Refashion the Trend 1
This look makes me feel like a badass. 🙂

I feel like I’ve captured the Ath-Flow aesthetic quite well.

While I wouldn’t actually wear my new coverup during a yoga class, I’d totally wear it to a yoga class. And it works well for dressing up workout/athleisure clothes for a zoom call or just relaxing at home with the boys.

Jillian reading on couch
Currently Reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

While I was busy embracing the comfiness of my new coverup, Mr. Refashionista started dinner.

Mr. Refashionista making bacon jam
Would you like some bacon jam?
burger on plate
He hand-ground the beef for this. Yes…I am lucky.

You can follow our foodie adventures on his Instagram if you like!

refashionista eating burger
NOM!

I certainly do miss more exciting times when I got to share fun pics of me and friends out and about (I know…those days will come again!). At least we have this comfy new trend to enjoy!

Cheers!

Refashionista DIY Ath-Flow Coverup Refashion Before and After
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