Make a T-shirt Dress

 Hello Readers. It is time for Dressember 2024. Dressember is an organization that works to fight human trafficking and forced labor in the U.S. and around the world. It is a $236 billion dollar industry according to the International Labor Organization. I try to raise awareness every December by wearing and refashioning dresses all month. Visit their website to learn more.

 Sometimes I can't believe how many old t-shirts I have, the thrift store has, the world has. They can seem plain, boring even seem useless but I wanted to find a way to use some of them. I decided to make a dress since it is Dressember. 

I had a small pile of t-shirts. Some were prettier than others but I think I can use all of them. 

I cut this shirt in half. It fit well and it would make a great top of my new dress. 

 

I cut the shirts where ever I could to remove the writing on the shirts. I wanted plain parts of the shirts. Sometimes the part I could use was narrow. 

If the plain part was wide I cut it into 2 bands. I was going to connect the 2 bands and make 1 larger band. 

I wanted the smallest band at the top and the largest band at the bottom. These will make tiers in the skirt of my dress. They need to get larger as they get to the bottom of my dress.

I put the top shirt and the first band together with the right sides facing each other. 

I connected one tier after the other. 

I liked the different colors together and there were enough to make the dress long enough. 

This dress was casual and fun. I liked how it turned out. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

***Year End Update***- This dress is an instant favorite. I have worn this a couple times already.

 

 

5 T-shirt Dresses

 Hello Readers. My sister-in-law was super nice and gave me 5 t-shirt dresses. That's right. 5! She said I could wear them or refashion them. I loved them but they were a little long and a bit tight in the bum. So, I got to work refashioning. 

This was so much fun because I could try so many different ideas. The dresses were all exactly the same size but the colors were all different. 

I will show you what I did with these dresses. I wanted some pajamas/lounge wear and t-shirts.  I  used leggings that I already had as a pattern. I cut some stretchy shorts out of the blue dress and the gray dress as well. The hem of the dress became the hem of the shorts. I folded the waist down and it was the waistband. No elastic needed.

I was able to make them into shorts in no time. I like these because I can wear them for pajamas and They are tight enough that they do not shift around and get bunched up. And I can wear them under dresses and skirts. (Have you ever worn a wrap dress on a breezy day? Has the wind ever blown that wrap skirt straight up in the air showing God and e'rybody your bum and more? Did it happen at a church? Did you sell your house, leave the church and move out of state? Yes, me too. OK, we were planning to move anyway but I was so happy about it after that.)

Let's take a look at the other 3 dresses. I also cut them into shirts. They just made great t-shirts and I didn't want to give them up. What did I do with the bottom of those dresses? I simply cut them into a shirt length. This idea is easy, there is no sewing involved. I used a shirt I liked to get the right length. T-shirt material does not fray. You do not have to finish or hem the bottom of the shirt if you don't want to. 

I rolled the extra material up and I had an instant infinity scarf. It might be hot today but cooler weather is coming.

I liked this idea so much that I did it with this red and black dress too. 

And one more time! Seriously, I just cut them and I was done. I have worn and machine-washed all of these new shirts and scarves. They never fray.

This one is my favorite. I love the yellow and orange together. The colors are going to be fun in fall too.

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

***Chickie's Year End Review-All of these pieces are living their best life. I like and wear all of these items.

Capri's To Shorts

 Hello Readers. I have been having fun with a big pile of hand-me-downs that I was given. I have been trying to make them work for me. Refashioning is always a lot of fun and it's a great way to get a wardrobe that is really personalized and suits me.

Lots of women like Capri pants in the summer. But they do not like me. They make me look very short in the legs and just short all over. I am short but these Capri Pants just emphasize all the wrong things. I look like a Hobbit delivering a ring. I could get upset about my Hobbit legs or I can make these Capri pants work for me.

I knew these Capri pants would suit me much better as shorts. I cut them off, hemmed them and made the waist a bit more fitted. This was a fast and easy sewing project.

So what about this dress? It was a little tight around the hips and in the bum. This photo is awkwardly edited because I took a weird picture but the dress looked pretty much like this.

I decided to shorten this dress into a shirt. It was a perfect fitted style t-shirt. I can be rough on my clothes so a fresh new t-shirt is always a good idea.

I was done sewing and I had a fun casual outfit ready to go. 

Thanks for reading along, next time I am going to show you more details about this dress. I had this blue t-shirt dress and 4 more like it to refashion in different ways. See you next time.

*If you have been following along with my 2021project to refashion for free all year, the year is 2/3 over and so far I am making it! I have not bought anything but needles and thread. And...well, a serger.*

***Chickie's Year End Review-I still think Capri pants are the worst thing I could wear. They look awful on me. Shorts are a better choice.

Another Dress of Shirts

 Hello Readers. I found myself with a pile of shirts on my refashion rack. And I am trying to use up my stash. What can you make from a pile of shirts? Lots of things! Today's post is about another dress made of shirts. 

My refashion stash has a lot of shirts in, so I needed to find a way to use them. I made a maxi-dress last week. I wanted to make something shorter this time. I pulled together the shirts that had harmonious colors. 

I adjusted the straps on this tank top so it wouldn't be so low cut. This will be perfect under the peachy colored shirt. The peachy is very lacey and sheer so the tank top will give some needed coverage.  

 

 

The next step was to add a skirt piece to this dress. This burgundy t-shirt is big enough to fit around my hips as a skirt. Men's big and tall t-shirts are great for this. I cut the shoulder and sleeve part of this shirt off the body. The body of the shirt is just a tube that will make a great skirt. What will I use as a waistband to keep the skirt on?

This peachy shirt has elastic in the waistband. It can be the waistband of this dress. I attached the peachy colored shirt to the big burgundy t-shirt. I stretched the peachy shirt as I stitched. I had pinned them together earlier so that the burgundy shirt would be gathered evenly all the way around. 

My new dress is finished. It was comfy and soft because it was all cozy knit material. The peach shirt hold the full skirt in place just right. I wore the tank top under the peachy shirt so that I was fully covered and would not flash anyone.

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

***Chickie's Year End Review-I loved this dress. I liked the colors and the lacy top. I never wore it again though. I need to go find it in the spring and wear it again.