Seamingly Smitten: Tutorial: The Mini Dress for Girls

Friday, May 11, 2012

Tutorial: The Mini Dress for Girls

Tutorial: The Mini Dress

(This will make a size 2T, but you can make it in any size.)

Materials needed:

One t-shirt that fits your child (it can be long or short sleeved)

1/3 yard cotton fabric

pins, scissors, sewing machine, thread, ruler

1. Gather materials.

2. If the shirt you have is long sleeved, cut the sleeves at off. You can leave the edges raw or zig-zag stitch the edges to make them have "lettuce edge" - which will curl them. I left mine raw.

3. You will cut up the side seam on the right side of the shirt (cut the shirt and the sleeve seam) to "open" your shirt. Don't worry - this will make sewing on the skirt so much easier and sewing it back together is a cinch! Are you freaking out? Just go with it, trust me! You can do it!

4. Open the shirt so the bottom of the shirt is stretched out from end to end and lay it right side up.

5. I wanted this Mini Dress to be 18 inches long when done, and the shirt was 10 inches long, so my final skirt length needed to be 8 inches. I cut a piece of fabric 10 in long x 26 in wide. (Cut yours to 10 in long x 32 in wide...mine came out a little snug. Good thing my little girlie is petite.)

6. Fold up the hem of the fabric 1 inch and press with an iron. Fold it up another 1 inch, press with an iron and pin along the hem. Sew the hem. (You are not sewing it to the shirt yet. Just sew the hem.)

7. Lay your fabric right side down onto your shirt which is right side up. Now the fabric and the shirt are laying right sides together. Pin your fabric to your shirt's bottom edge, gently stretching the t-shirt as you pin it to the fabric. See how easy it is to pin since the shirt is laid open?

8. Sew your fabric onto your shirt, removing pins as you sew. Make sure you gently pull the t-shirt as you sew the fabric to it. It will give your shirt dress a little more stretch. If you simply pin and sew it without stretching it, there won't be any wiggle room for your little one.

9. Press with an iron when done. Topstitch 1/8 inch above your fabric - securing your fabric down onto your shirt.

10. Almost there! Lay your shirt dress right sides together. Pin along the side seam that was previously cut.

11. Sew along your pinned edge, removing pins as you sew.

12. Add any embellishments you wish.

13. Turn dress right side out. You did it!!

Try it on your little girl and be proud of what you made!

Add some cowboy boots to really "sass" up the outfit, a big bow and maybe even a baseball. You know, little ladies like all sorts of things! I'm amazed my little one posed for this picture! She thought her boots were so fun that she was dancing around the yard and I kept having to say, "Freeze and smile!" :) I finally got a few good pictures!