Girl's Dress Upcycled from a Man's Dress Shirt

Many of you know that my sister and brother-in-law are moving to NYC very soon.  You can learn more about why they are moving by clicking here and watching a brief video.

In an attempt to downsize, I was given many old dress shirts from my brother-in-law, Josh.  Knowing there must be something I could make from all these dress shirts, I gladly accepted them and began brainstorming ideas about how to make this shirt into a dress for my two year old daughter.

I had seen other tutorials about how to upcycle a man's dress shirt, but they all contained sleeves, which I didn't want to bother with and would likely be too hot for our 100+ degrees in Florida.

So, I made my own pattern.  And better yet, I'll share it with you.

Please keep in mind that my daughter is a skinny two year old, about 23 lbs.  Adjust your measurements accordingly.

You will need:
a man's dress shirt
elastic
sewing machine
coordinating thread
contrasting fabric for sash and flower pin, if desired

First, cut off the arms and the collar of the shirt. 

Then, remove the pocket with your seam ripper.

Next, determine how wide you want your dress to be.  Length does not matter right now.  I would advise using a current dress as a sample.  You should add at least one inch one each side for seam allowances, and then additional inches if you want the dress more full.  

Finish the side seams.  Since I do not have a working serger, I chose to do a double hem on the side seams.  This means that I iron the fabric with a small (about ¼ inch) hem, and then fold it over again so that no raw edges are showing.  Do this on all four side seams.

Next is the neck casing.  The width of your elastic will determine the width of your casing.  Make your casing the same way as the side seams, with the double hem method.  Make sure that you only stitch at the bottom of the casing, not on the sides which would close your casing up!  Repeat this for the back side of the dress.

 Now, you should have two pieces (front and back) with three finished edges.

For my daughter, I made the arm holes 5 inches long.  You may or may not need to adjust the length for your child.  Put your two pieces right sides together and pin.  Make a mark or place a special pin at 5 inches (or where your desired armhole should be).  Sew from the marker pin down towards the bottom of the dress.  Repeat for the other side.  

Now, the hem.  Determine the length of your dress and cut it about 1 inch longer than the desired length.  Again, use the double hem method to sew a hem around the bottom of your dress.  If you like really wide hems, you will need to add more than 1 inch to the desired length before cutting your fabric.

Now, take your elastic.  Mine measured 18" but yours may be different.  You can measure your child by loosely stretching the elastic from one shoulder, around the neck, to the other shoulder, around the back and back to the first shoulder.

Put a safety pin through through one end of the elastic and thread it through the casing  you made earlier.  When you finish the first piece, just continue threading through the second piece until you reach your original starting point.

Sew your elastic together, using your backstitch many times to reinforce.  Thread it into the casing where it will be hidden from the outside.

The basic dress is done!  Now for the fun part....

Let's embellish it!

I chose this red and white polka dot in honor of Independence Day and a pop of color.

I made a sash for the dress by cutting a strip about 5" wide and folding it in half, right sides together.  I ran a long stitch down the unfinished side and then turned it right side out.

Finish the ends with the double hem method.

Anchor it to the dress somewhere.  I chose to anchor it on the side seam, but you could stitch it down anywhere, or in more than one place.

I also chose to add a fabric flower to the top left of the dress.

Pin it on and you are done.  Now, go chase your little girl around the house and make her put her dress on.... please tell me I'm not the only one who has to chase a toddler to put clothes on!

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial.  Please let me know if you have any questions and I will either answer them in the comments or edit the post if needed.

 

This post is linked to the following parties:

Dittle Dattle 

It's So Very Cheri

Sew Can Do

Sew Chatty

Crafts Keep Me Sane

Craft O Maniac

The Girl Creative

DIY Home Sweet Home Project 

I Heart Naptime

The DIY Showoff

By Stephanie Lynn

Creative Jewish Mom

No Time for Flash Cards

Sew Many Ways

Itsy Bitsy Paper 

Making the World Cuter Monday