Refashion a Skirt into Two Dresses

The warm tints and shades of green and yellow from the original skirt make the perfect fabric for today's Spring refashion. 

I used that skirt to make two dresses for two of my granddaughters. Keep reading to find out how easy they were to make...

The first dress has tulle over the skirt, because the almost three-year-old, opinionated girl it was made for will only wear "ballet" style dresses. 

The second dress utilizes the beautiful pleats found in the original skirt.

  

The first thing you'll need for this refashion is two t-shirts in the sizes of your two little girls.

To get started with your two dresses, cut open the back seam of the skirt. If there isn't a back seam a side seam will work too.  

For the first dress, I measured from the hem up to the length I wanted the skirt part of the new dress.  Now follow these 4 steps for an easy ballet style dress:

1.  Unpick a few inches of the old hem at both ends of the back seam. Then, match the skirt from the bottom up, sewing a 1/4" new back seam.
2.  Re-sew the hem where it was unpicked.
3. Measure tulle the same finished length and width of the skirt. Sew the back seam of the tulle. Pin on top of the fabric skirt. Add two rows of gathering stitches to the top of the skirt, one at 1/4" and the other at 1/2". Gather the skirt to fit the t-shirt. Pin the skirt to the t-shirt.
4. With a sewing machine, sew the skirt to the t-shirt using a 5/8" seam. Optional step, top stitch the skirt to the t-shirt at 1/4".  

 

The final step was to add an accent to the t-shirt top left side. For this dress, I cut out a flower from the skirt's fabric and machine embroidered that onto the t-shirt.

For the second dress, I measured 6 3/4" from the top of the t-shirt and cut the remainder of the t-shirt off.

I carefully unpicked the beautiful pleats of the original skirt. I ran a basting stitch along the top of those pleats so they'd stay in place.

Then I measured the total width of the pleats, added a small seam to both sides, and sewed this skirt onto the t-shirt. The next step was to add a hem.  

For this dress, I used the three covered buttons from the original skirt's opening and sewed the buttons to the top center of the t-shirt.

Not so funny fact: when I finished my youngest granddaughter's dress using the length my daughter supplied me with, it looked too short - keep in mind I hadn't seen this granddaughter in 4 months, so maybe I was just imagining her taller. I sent my daughter a text telling her my thoughts-- that the dress looked too short. She assured me if I used what she provided, it would be right. The next day, I received a text from her telling me she measured wrong & the dress needed to be 4" longer.  UGH!

I ended up using the lining from the original skirt to add the light green border onto the bottom of this dress. I'd already made a diaper cover out of the same fabric and luckily had just enough fabric for this border.

In spite of the measurement frustration, these dresses are perfect for Okinawa's spring weather with their green and yellow fabric and the long sleeves for the breezes and frequent rain storms this time of year.  Happy dress making!   xoxo Grandma

Linked to: Project Run and Play

Easy Breezy Summer Dress

While this adorable two year old was visiting a few weeks ago, I found the shirt shown in the photo below.  That's my oldest daughter wearing the teal shirt when she was pregnant with this little munchkin, pictured above. The shoulders hung on her so poorly, even when she was pregnant, that she never liked wearing it, so she donated it to my refashion efforts. Good thing too, because it makes a much cuter sundress than it ever did a shirt! 

After a little consulting with my daughter, this easy breezy summer dress was created.  The shirt transformed into a comfortable light and airy dress perfect for a 100 degree day, pockets included. Any dress that has pockets gets some serious bonus points. 

When it's 100 degrees, an ice cream cone is the perfect prop for a two year old. At least it was the only thing that kept her interest for longer than two minutes while her mom snapped a few photos. 

As you can see, I kept the original shirt's pockets in this gauzy dress.  I think you'll agree that pockets are perfect for little hands.  For this dress, I used one of my favorite patterns from Shwin and Shwin called Black Bird Tunic.  Instead of a tunic, I lengthened the pattern's skirt by about 10 inches to turn it into a dress. And see that cute button closure on the shoulder? It makes it so easy to slip on and off. You know how toddlers like approximately 10 costume changes throughout the day? This one is no exception. 

Last summer, I used the same pattern to create the Toddler Cascading Ruffle Dress for this same granddaughter. And if the shirt style looked familiar, it's because it happened to be the exact same style shirt in a different color. Occasionally, my girls and I have the same taste in clothing. Well, the fit never worked quite right for me either. I guess that's what happens when you order shirts online. And while we both liked the shirt, we both LOVED this dress. 

I love how this dress looks so comfortable and cool making it a perfect summer dress.  xoxo Grandma

Breezy Summertime Outfit

I know we just entered Spring, but I am in need of some serious summertime inspiration already. Maybe it's because I've been spending the last month on a tropical island, visiting my daughter who just had a baby. And I've been soaking up all my visits to the beach trying to forget that its still winter back home. Whatever the reason, I am ready for some warmer weather to stick around. So, if you're ready to kick winter to the curb too, then read on... hopefully you'll be inspired to whip up something to wear in the hot, humid weather. 

The best fabrics for keeping one cool are breathable, breezy cottons.  So, for this outfit, I took full advantage of loose fitting cotton fabrics so my granddaughter can stay cool this summer.

When I broke my arm this winter and couldn't sew,  all my sewing projects got pushed to the back burner. So, I went to the library and checked out a lot of books to keep me busy. Quite a few of these books were about sewing. I came across a book called, "Little Girls, Big Style" by Mary Abreu which was filled with loose fitting cotton clothing ideas and patterns for children.  As soon as my arm healed, I started sewing this little toddler outfit to take to my granddaughter, who lives with her family on a muggy, humid tropical island.

Just look at those cubby arms and that toddling, independent child.  She is loved so much!

These are beautiful Chinese gardens that we visited in March.  The garden isn't in China, but can you guess where they are?  Hopefully this cute, little girl will stay cool in this breezy outfit this summer. xoxo Grandma



Linked to: Threading MY Way, Project Run and Play

Layers of White Dress

A white dress is a classic for any little girl.  This layers of white dress was super easy to make and a good way to use up random pieces of white and off white trim.

I started this dress with a basic white tee shirt that I purchased for under four dollars from Walmart.  I cut 3" off the bottom of the tee shirt.  I next ruched the sides by sewing onto the seam 4" of elastic, which I stretched as I sewed it in place.

Then I added some stretchy off white lace around the neckline.  I cut out a 3" by 4" pocket from some leftover white knit tee shirt fabric and added a scrap of off white lace to the top of that pocket.  I then sewed the pocket onto the tee shirt.

Using more leftover lace, I even made her a coordinating headband.

Next, I added layers of white and off white lace to form a skirt around the tee shirt.  

My granddaughter wore this dress on the day her baby sister was blessed in October.  (If you'd like to see the dress her baby sister wore, which of course this Grandma made, go here.) I made the dress a little big, hoping it would fit her this spring.  She's grown up a lot since these photos but it still fits perfectly for an Easter dress.  Happy Easter all! 
xoxo Grandma

Linked to:  Project Run & Play

1 1/2 Hour Toddler Dress

This cute little dress you see here is another project I finished in time to take to my granddaughter on my latest trip overseas. Notice the sand sculpture on the right side of the photo? My grandson and I created that sand gecko one morning.  I laughed when I came back to the beach later that day and saw that others decided to embellish our creation with a little seaweed on it's head! Now back to this simple dress....

In an hour and a half, I turned a men's button down dress shirt into this cute toddler dress.  Grab a men's shirt and have a little fun dolling it up for your favorite toddler!

Supplies needed:  

1 men's dress shirt

1/3" wide white lace

3" wide lace x 3 1/4 long (for pocket)

Single fold bias tape about 8"

Thread

Pattern:  Holiday Dress by Stitched by Crystal (bodice - add two inches to the length of the bodice).

Cut 10 - 12" from the bottom of the shirt up - depending on the length of your toddler's waist to knee measurement plus 1/2" for the seam allowance. 
1 1/2" x 8" rectangle cut on the bias for the skirt placket

Cutting basics:

Once you have cut the skirt from the bottom of the shirt, cut out the bodice and the lining as follows:

After cutting everything out, you'll embellish the buttonhole placket by adding 1/3" wide white lace, stitching along both edges.  The lace adds a lot of charm to this dress.

Next, pin the 3" wide lace onto the right side of the bodice (the side with the buttonhole placket. Turn all edges except the top under 1/4" to form a nice pocket. Sew the pocket in place next to the edges.  For the bodice sewing details, see Stitched by Crystal's instructions.  

To the top center of the skirt, you'll need to add a placket.  I found a good tutorial on how to do that step at Sew Sweet Patterns.  Once the placket has been added, gather the skirt and pin it onto the bodice.  The skirt placket needs to be lined up with the button placket on one side and the buttonhole packet on the other side.  

Baste the skirt to the bodice.  Once happy with how that looks, trim the seam to around 1/4", restitch this seam with a finishing edge and iron. Hand stitch the bodice lining to the bodice enclosing all the seams inside - which gives you a nice finished look.  

Now, on the outside of the bodice, topstitch 1/4" from the seam's edge.  Guess what, you're finished!  How long did this dress take you from start to finish? 

The best part of making this dress is that it looks like you spent a lot of time creating it, but you didn't because the buttons, buttonholes and skirt seams were already finished for you.
  

Now is all you have to do is sit back and enjoy whatever sun is left in your part of the world!  xoxo Grandma

Linked to: Threading My Way

Dress Into a Romper in 30 Minutes or Less

This sweet little butterfly dress was a hand-me-down from a cousin.  When my daughter asked me to make this little girl some rompers, I remembered seeing a post on turning a dress into a romper at Make It & Love It. I wanted to try my hand at doing the same thing.  The only problem was, I don't own one of those snap attachment tools that you need and didn't want to buy one. I really don't want anymore stuff!  Never fret!  I figured out how to make it without one!  So this tutorial will show you how to make a romper in 30 minutes or less without that tool. 

First you'll cut a semi-circle from the middle bottom of the dress.  Then you'll want to add the ruffle to the legs.  If the hem is wide enough (this one wasn't), simply add elastic the width of the calf plus 1" into the existing hem.  If your hem was only clean finished like this dress, add a casing around an inch above the hem by sewing bias tape, then add the elastic and you'll have cute ruffled legs.

Now, in place of that little snap attachment tool you'll need to purchase some snap tape.  Snap tape is simply tape with the snaps already in place.  How convenient, right?  All I did was finish the edge of the cut semi circle and then sewed the snap tape to that edge.  Make sure the snap tape edges line up so the bottom will snap together properly.  

And that's it. Really. That's it. Pretty simple, eh? Yea for super easy projects!

That's really all there is to this refashion.  In 30 minutes, I had this cute romper to take my granddaughter.  Two weeks my husband and I headed overseas to visit this adorable girl and her family. I got in some grandkid time, and she got some cute new clothes. Win, win.   

Enjoy this simple project!  And if it also leads you somewhere exotic to drop off your finished product, then I'd definitely love to hear about it.  xoxo Grandma

Lions and Tigers and Bears - Oh My, What a Refashion!

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! This was a fun refashion project!  If you'd like to have some fun with old tee shirts, this is the refashion for you. Gather together five old tee shirts: yellow/gold, orange, brown, white and a small piece of black. Or whatever color combination suits you best.  

Next, you'll want to download the free pattern for your lion, tiger and bear here.

Now grab some scissors and cut out around the outside lines of the patterns. Pin the patterns onto the appropriate tee shirt scraps and grab a Clorox bleach pen.

 Follow the instructions found here. Once the design has bleached through the fabric, wash the bleach out with soap and water.  When the fabric has dried, you'll need an orange and brown permanent marker, a paint brush and rubbing alcohol.  Let's start with the lion.  Take the brown permanent marker and lightly outline the lion's details.  Add a little marker for shading around it's ear, nose and tail. 

Now, time to play with your tiger.

Using this technique, you'll draw details onto the tee shirt fabric by adding a little orange and brown ink to the areas as shown above.  Don't laugh, but I drew on my fabric upside down and realized it when I went to add the stripes. It didn't really effect the outcome except I had to re-bleach a couple of the areas.

Use a glue stick and small shapes of black knit fabric which has been cut into tiger stripes.  To make the tiger stripes, just cut a bunch a random shapes that have a point on one end.  Glue the stripes onto the bleached tiger shape using the glue stick. Press the stripes in place.  

Using a really small zig zag stitch, sew the stripes onto the tiger. I fluctuated my zig zag stitch from 1.5 to 2.5 wide.

And here's a close-up of the bear which was bleached right onto the fabric of the bottom layer of the dress:

For the pattern, I used a peasant dress style, Simplicity 2377.

Between the animals, I machine embroidered a leaf design and then the words, "OH MY".  

The brown knit tee shirt I used had a sheer chiffon fabric as an overlay. I used that fabric to make the sleeves. The only thing I changed from the original pattern was to the bodice area. It just hung really baggy on my granddaughter, so I made a casing which allowed me to take that area in with elastic.

The headband was made from 1" stripes of the remaining brown knit tee shirt. I found a good tutorial on how to make it here.

Knit dresses are super comfortable. As we walked around the yard taking photos, I couldn't help myself and chanted to this cutie, "Lions and tigers and bears! Oh my!" She's never seen the "Wizard of Oz" movie yet, I'm not sure how a four year old would deal with the wicked witch or the flying monkeys... which really scared her aunts and to this day they hate that movie! What do you think, is she too young for this movie? We'll probably hold off. For now. -xoxo Grandma

Linked to:  USS Crafty, Project Run and Play, Craft Gossip