Whilst going through a bag of clothes ready for the charity shop, we found a couple of mens shirts that were too nice to get rid of. We decided that we would snip them up and turn them into dresses for our little girls, using the buttons down the front as the buttons on the dress. We’re big fans of upcycling and this seemed like a pretty straightforward project. It took us a while – toddlers are not the most willing of models – but we were so happy with the outcome
For this project you will need:
1 men’s shirt
sewing machine
simple non-stretch dress (for sizing)
tracing/baking paper
Matching sewing thread
To get measurements for the dress, take a non-stretch dress that fits and lay it out flat. Outline and cut out tracing paper.
Lay the shirt flat, remove the pockets and cut off the arms and collar.
Lay your template onto the remainder of the shirt and line up the buttons so they run down the front of the dress. Allowing space for a 3/4 inch seam allowance, pin to the shirt and cut around the template.
With right sides together, pin and sew the side seams and shoulders. Iron out the seams flat.
Try the dress on your toddler to check the sizing is right then press. Use pinking shears to tidy up all the seams.
Snip all around the armholes and neck hole. To create a neat edge, press the snipped fabric out onto the wrong side of the fabric. Pin then sew 5mm from edge.
Trim off any excess fabric.
To make the ruffle sleeves, measure the top of the armhole the length you want the sleeve to be (from top seam about 1/2 way down on each side).
Draw a line on paper measuring double the length of this measurement. Then, from the centre of this line measure about 7cm (this will be the length of the sleeve). Then join up to create a curve (see photo below) to each end of the line. Fold and press the seam along the curved edge. Pin the centre of the sleeve to the top of the arm hole on the inside of the dress. To create the ruffles fold over a small segment and pin again – see the picture below for guidance. this will create the ruffle. Sew the sleeve onto the dress.
And your dress is ready. Now you can go through and steal all the shirts from the wardrobe and make loads more. Whoop! We made a couple – a Hawaiian one for Harper and the striped for Amelie.
courtesy:littlebuttondiaries