So I'm going to try my hand at a sewing tutorial :) I am by no means a veteran seamstress; in fact I'm quite the newbie. But I have discovered a love for these simple yet adorable T-Shirt dresses and I wanted to share with you how to make them. So with that, I will begin...
Step 1: Choose a T-shirt. It can be old or new, just make sure it is soft and free of stains (I know that's difficult with old T's but I've been able to find some!). I recommend using a T-shirt that is 1 size bigger than the size they are in now, ie. if my daughter usually wears a size 7, I will use a size 8 for the dress. You CAN use the same size, but once the bottom skirt is on, a larger shirt gives a little more wriggle room to get the dress on and off. I found these Hanes T-shirts at Wal-Mart for only $2! You can sew this dress directly to the bottom of the T-shirt without altering it. My oldest daughter has a shape that is better suited for a higher skirt so I trimmed about 2" off the bottom of the shirt and then folded it twice over and pinned it. Your choice. (I made my youngest daughter's dress without altering the bottom of the T-shirt).
Step 2: Choose a piece of fabric that accents the color of your T-shirt, then decide how long you want the dress to be. I like my daughters to wear longer dresses so we kept the fabric pretty long. I do not use measuring tools for this dress, it's an eye-ball-it project. If you feel uncomfortable with that, by all means measure! Just remember to add 1" to the top and 2" to the bottom to leave room for hems and sewing. (An easy way to measure how long you want the dress to be is to just compare it to a dress or capris that your daughter already has that fit well). For the width, you are going to need double the width of the T-shirt bottom plus about 5", this extra room is for the gathering.
Step 3: Sew two straight lines at the top of your bottom piece of fabric. This should go all the way across the fabric. The lines should be about 1/4" apart.
Step 4: Find the ends of your thread on one side of your bottom piece. I go from left to right, but you can do whatever side feels better. Hold tightly your bottom thread (from the bobbin) while pulling gently on your top thread. As you pull, the fabric should begin to cinch up. Keep pulling until you feel like the thread might break, then slide the fabric down. Pull the thread some more until it's tight, then slide the fabric down again. Do this until you have the desired amount of gathering. Be sure to keep an eye on the width of your piece, if you gather too much it might not fit all the way around in which case you'd have to do some ripping. If you want more gathering, use a wider piece of fabric.
Step 5: Once you're done gathering all the fabric, begin pinning it to the wrong side of your T-shirt (inside out). Also make sure your fabric piece is wrong side up too. The "wrong" side is the faded or ugly side. The "right" side is the brighter, prettier side. But don't worry, everyone sews at least one dress on the wrong way :) You should pin the bottom piece all the way around the T-Shirt. When you get to the part where the two ends meet, make sure you have enough fabric to close the seam. If not, loosen some of the gatherings.
It should like something like this once you're done pinning...
Step 6: Begin sewing your bottom piece. I start where the two ends meet and work my way around. Try your best to sew a straight line. For us newbies (me included) that's not always easy. But try, try, try, try, try it again. You'll get better with each dress. The good news is if it's a little crooked that's ok because your sash piece will cover it up nicely! Sew all the way around until you get to where the 2 ends meet. STOP! Don't sew that part together until you do that outside seam of the skirt.
Step 7: Sew together the side seam of the skirt. Make it about a 1/4' to 1/2' wide so that it doesn't look bulky underneath the dress.
Step 8: Hem the bottom of the skirt. I do about an 1" hem. Easy peasy.
Last step... the sash! Now, my first few dresses I used ribbon around the middle as you will see in a moment. But then I discovered that ribbon was a little too constricting when trying to put the dresses on my girls. They fit just fine when the dress is on but it's hard to get their arms in. So I will show you how to do ribbon AND how to do a **fabric sash (which I prefer now but this particular dress has ribbon).
Turn your dress right side out. You will see the stitching from where you sewed the bottom on. It's ok, we'll cover that up! Measure out the length of ribbon you'd like to use. On this dress, I used a 1" pink (her choice)ribbon and I cut it pretty long so she could tie a bow on the side. You can sew the ribbon exact (like a belt) with no ribbon, you can do a side bow, back bow, or flower. However you like.
Once you've decided on your ribbon, pin it to the dress (be sure to only pin it through one side of the dress or you'll end up sewing the dress closed!. As you pin, try to make it as even as possible while covering the stitching. I left about an inch of the t-shirt underneath the ribbon to give it a belt look. But you can cover that entire piece if you'd like. Up to you. Now that it's pinned, you can sew. I simply sew a straight line right down the middle of the ribbon. If you're going to leave ribbon for a bow, make sure you don't sew the ribbon closed. I left about an inch space between the two ends, and that's where she ties the bow.
**Alternate SASH made from fabric. If you have fabric left over from the bottom half of the dress, you can make the sash match exactly. If you don't have enough, you can get creative. I used a zebra print sash for a dress for my littlest one because I didn't have enough of the original. It gave it a little spunk, I made a bag to match, and she loves it!
So, sash... take a 3" piece of fabric that is the width of the waist of the dress plus 1". Fold the raw edges in until you have about a 1" width. Then pin it to the dress (just like you would with the ribbon) and sew. With the fabric sash you'll need to sew a 1/8"seam on the top and the bottom. Then fold the end under and sew it to seal off the end. Here's an example of a finished fabric sash:
And you're done!! How cute will your little girl be in T-shirt dress that YOU made special just for her? She'll love it, just like mine do! If you have ANY questions or my instructions are confusing, please comment here and I'll do my best to help! It may be raining dresses here but it's pouring God's grace and patience in this learning process LOL! Now, there's no time like the present...go get sewing :)
Bye for now,
Kristina
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