Although I have done this in readiness for Christmas, you can use other fabric for this and make a dress that can be worn at any time of the year. You could even use a long sleeve and thicker skirt fabric for a winter weight dress.
What you’ll need: Girls t-shirt, 50cm fabric, 12inch of 1inch wide elastic, scissors, tape measure, iron, needle, button, pins, interfacing 2inch x 12inch, thread as well as a sewing machine. I used an overlocker (serger) as well but a zig zag stitch on a sewing machine will achieve the same result.
What to do:
I’ve made two sizes for my daughters. Size 0 and 2. For the purpose of the instructions I will write size 0 measurements first and size 2 in brackets eg. 10 inch (12inch).
- Reduce length of t-shirt by 4 inch (5inch). Overlock cut edge.
- Cut four pieces of fabric and 1 piece of interfacing 2x10inch (2x12inch) for waistband. Iron interfacing to the wrong side of one piece. Sew two pieces right sides together at short sides and attach elastic to seams at the same time. Join the two remaining pieces (one with interfacing) in same way, seams along short ends. Overlock seams.
- Place the two pieces right sides together so that the 1×10 inch (1x12inch) elastic and the interfacing will be on opposite sides of the t-shirt. The interfacing will be at the back, the interfacing at the front. Pin the cut edge of the t-shirt in between these two pieces. Sew. Fold down and press.
- Cut two pieces 16x9inch (18x11inch) for skirt. Pin right sides together and sew side seams. Overlock seams.
- Sew a gathering stitch along top edge. Attach right side, matching seams, to right side of outside waistband. Sew.
- Using iron, fold over edge of inside waistband. Pin to stitched edge from Step 5. Turn dress right side out and sew. Sew another line of stitches along top of waistband.
- Hem skirt ¼ inch.
- Cut circle with a diameter of 3inch (5 inch). Hand sew a running stitch along edge and gather. Use a button to cover gathering and attach to dress at the same time and voila! One dress complete!
If you keep the cut offs from the t-shirt you can use them to make a coordinating headband with another material flower and button from step 8!
Originally posted 2014-12-05 02:52:12.
Just rereading these posts and remembered to comment on what I did last year. I was inspired by your post to make something for my toddler daughter to wear for Advent/Christmas. The hardest part was getting fabric that wasn’t covered in Santa’s. After about 4 fabric stores I finally found one bolt of Christmas Angels (a bit similar to yours).
My sewing skills are very basic so I just sewed an A-line hemmed skirt with a fold-over for elastic. That made the most of the size of the graphics on the fabric, although it was a bit longer than what my daughter usually wears.
Thanks for a lovely post that really helped me to do something fun at Advent.