I was going to post this great tutorial weeks ago. I like a month before Easter I was making Chloe’s Easter dress this year. My grandma use to make all us grand daughters dresses for Easter, and there were a lot of us. If she could do it I could as well. I decided on making a t-shirt dress because since it was the first time making a dress for Chloe I thought that would be easier. Plus I didn’t have to mess with putting buttons on the dress. I really don’t know how to anyways? Anyone want to teach me lol??? Chloe wore her dress the Sunday before Easter and also for her 2 year old photo shoot my sister shot of her. It turned out super cute and I fell in love with it. It was so easy too and who would of known it was a t-shirt dress!
What you will need:
1 t shirt in the size the little girls wears
1 1/4 yard of fabric ( this is how much I bought for my 2 year old)
sewing machine
thread
scissors
measuring tape
1: Cut your t-shirt in half. I cut it about 2 1/2 inches below the arm pit area.
2: Measure out your skirt fabric and cut it out. To do this I measured the width of the bottom of my shirt after cutting it in half. Multiply that by 2. Chloe’s shirt was 11 inches so the skirt width was 22 inches. This will give you the width you need to cut your fabric. I kept the length of the fabric how it was then measured it once I had the top attached to the skirt with it on Chloe.
3: Now pin the one side together that is not attached together by placing right sides together. Sew that side up.
4: Now it’s time to attach the t-shirt to the skirt. Facing right sides together of both slip the t-shirt into the skirt part, and pin it together. I every so often folded the skirt fabric to make a pleated skirt then pinning it. This way the fabric lines up. I started pinning on the sides so the seams lined up. Then sew the two together. Be sure to back stitch.
5: Now to make the sash. I made mine 5 inches wide and I took the width of the skirt (22 inches x 2) which made my sash 44 inches long. This was long enough for a good knot in the back. The dress does look good without a sash but I think it pulls it all together. Fold the sash piece in half and sew right sides together leaving the one end open. Flip the sash right side out and fold the open end in a little and sew it shut. To attach the sash place it evenly around the dress. Also having it lay half and half on the shirt and skirt. Tack it down with a pin along the seam of the dress on each side. Sew it just on that seam. This can be tricky, so be careful and not attach your shirt or skirt part to the sash. ( like I did 🙂
6: Now have your model try it one. I wanted it to hit just a couple of inches below Chloe’s knees, so I measured that length. I cut the fabric to that length leaving just about a inch more though for the hem. Pin the hem over twice so that it doesn’t have any rough edges out and sew with a zig zag stitch.
Look at you! Hooray we made it, without any trouble. I love this dress and hope you and your little girl or girls do to!
Check Out Mom Resource Mom Blogs Party Week 8 for my link as well!