Ideas for Making an Old T-Shirt Into a Kid's Dress
Young children quickly growing out of their clothes is a problem for all parents. Making clothes is an alternative to constantly buying new clothes or giving your child an older sibling's cast-offs. But making clothes still takes time and you have to buy the material. Instead, reuse an adult's old T-shirt, an older kid's shirt or a shirt that already fits your child to make a cute new dress.
Other People Are Reading
-
Big Shirt
-
Transform an old long- or short-sleeved T-shirt of yours or an older child's shirt into a kid's dress with a few simple steps. Lay a shirt that fits your child on top of the bigger T-shirt and then cut around the kid's shirt, leaving about 0.75 inch extra material all around. Turn the cut shirt inside out and sew up the sides and the shoulder seams, not the bottom. Take the bottom half of the old T-shirt and cut a straight line across the top to make a skirt. Turn both inside out and sew the skirt onto the shirt.
Kid's Shirt
-
Transform shirts that are stained on the bottom or shirts that your child no longer likes into dresses. Since the shirts already fit, you don't have to alter the top. Simply cut the bottom half of a shirt off for an empire waist or cut a shirt at the waistline for a dress with a traditional waist. Measure a skirt to the desired length and add an inch for allowances. Sew up the skirt's hem, gather the top of the skirt, turn the skirt inside out and then sew the skirt to the shirt. Turn the dress right side out and you're done.
-
Ruffles
-
If you want to enhance a plain T-shirt, add ruffles. Ideas for placement include along the bottom of the dress or in rows down the dress's front. One idea is to cut small, circular strips from the T-shirt sleeves to make rose-shaped ruffles. Pin the end of the strip on the dress in the place that you want the center of the rose to sit. Wind the strip in circles around the pin until you come to the end, then start at the bottom and sew in circles until you get to the middle of the rose.
Ruffle Hem
-
A ruffle hem can add length if the T-shirt or dress isn't quite long enough or if your child has gotten taller. You can also use a ruffle hem for decoration or color, which can be especially nice if you used a plain T-shirt. To add a ruffle hem, cut strips at the desired length and sew the seams together. Fold them in half and sew up the ends and add a gathering stitch to the top of the seam where it connects to the dress. Pin the hem to the bottom of the dress and sew together.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit BananaStock/BananaStock/Getty Images
