How to Make a Scrappy T-Shirt Dress

Whether all white or multi-colored, t-shirts help make a one-of-a-kind dress.

Whether you're searching for a creative way to reuse old clothes or hoping to create a casual outfit, it is easy to transform old t-shirts and an inexpensive sundress into a stylish and comfortable scrappy t-shirt dress. With a little creativity, sewing on scraps of t-shirts gives a dress a unique texture that is bound to get you notice. Best of all, this versatile article of clothing can be worn all year long. In the summer, pair your dress with leggings, tights or jeans. Come winter, warm up by adding a cardigan to your ensemble.

Things You'll Need

• Jersey cotton sundress
• T-shirts
• Scissors
• Pins
• Needle
• Thread
• 2 yards silk ribbon

Instructions

1. Select a basic sundress to serve as the base for your scrappy t-shirt dress. Since the thin cotton in many old t-shirts can be sheer, using a pre-made sundress to guide your dress creation helps prevent any wardrobe malfunctions.

2. Cut or rip up the t-shirt to create scraps. For a neater look, cleanly cut scraps of uniform size with scissors. For a tattered, more bohemian style, rip the scraps so you end up with pieces of varying sizes and shapes.

3. Lay the t-shirt scraps over the sundress. When you are pleased with the positioning of the scraps, pin them in place.

4. Sew the scraps to the dress, beginning with the scraps at the bottom and working upward. This will let the t-shirt scraps on the top cover the seams of the scraps below it.

Tips & Warnings

• Sewing all sides of the scraps will give the dress a look similar to that of a patchwork quilt.

• For a scrappy dress with pieces that will rustle with the breeze, only sew the top edge of each scrap to the dress.

References

• Hide Your Arms: How To Customize and Recycle T-Shirts
• Dor Nib: DIY Dress-Up Daily: 5 Sexy Ways to Upcycle Old Clothing