Repurpose, Upcycle

I have been having many fun adventures lately using old worn out or grown out of clothes to make new cute things for little E. Here is what I did last night...

Before (sorry it's a bit blurry, I didn't realize until after cutting it up...)

After

I always loved that shirt on my older stepdaughter and she is quite rough on clothes so the top of this soon had holes and was ready to be thifted, I kept it because it was too cute to part with and knew I wanted to do something with it. 

The process:

First I cut the bottom off the repurposing shirt, about as long as I wanted the new dress to be, keeping the bottom hem. I then cut the top apart to get material for the bodice (top part of the dress). I thought the casing of the v neck of the shirt was so cute I cut it off and used it as ties for the dress, which also makes the dress adjustable. 

Using a dress that currently fits as a guide I cut out a rectangle for the bodice, I made it double sided for durability. Stitched the wrong sides together, with the ties on the inside going over them once, reversing back over, then again forward so they won't rip out. The shirt was wider than the bodice so I gathered it at the top (using a loose tension and long stitch then gently pulling to adjust the length) to the same length of the bodice. I thought it was so cute I made the seam on the outside, which made attaching the skirt to the bodice very simple. 

I finished the arm pits simply by turning the fabric over and stitching. Which is technically optional since knits don't ravel, but I thought it would look more finished turned and stitched. 

Put it on little E this morning and Tada! New dress! :)

I love sewing!

I know it would have been more clear if I had taken pictures along the way so if you are confused about a step let me know and I will try to better explain.  Mostly I just winged it and did what I thought would be cute, and used a dress that currently fits as a "pattern" of sorts. 

Happy sewing!