Upcycled T-shirt Dress

I had so much fun working with all my old t-shirts when I did the Upcycled Boy Hats.  This time around I thought I'd give girls a try.  (Don't worry, I'll do a boy version of it later.)  Let me introduce the Upcycled T-shirt Dress. 

Now right off the bat you might be thinking, "That's nice but I don't have any cute t-shirts or knits."  Don't you fret or frown.  I've got an extra little step for you.

After rounding up my t-shirts, I felt like some of them needed something extra.  I bought these foam stamps from Hobby Lobby.  There were 12 little stamps and I think the pack was less than $2.  I painted my fabric paint onto the stamp and pressed it onto the fabric.  I did this until it looked like a funky knit fabric.  (Don't worry about each stamp being perfect.  They won't be, but it'll still be really cute.  It'll look more vintage.)

I did another one using a lip stamp from the same pack.

To add a little variety, I took another fabric and drew "XOXO"s all over it with my fabric markers.

For the top of the dress you can cut off any shirt.  Maybe you can find a shirt that has a stain on the bottom half that you would have gotten rid of.  Or if you're using a new one, save the bottom to make my Anti-layer Tube Top.

Next I aligned all my different strips and sewed them together.  I wanted the seams to be on the outside, to give it that messy, patchy look.  You need two of these pieces - one for the back and one for the front.

I trimmed the edges carefully.  I wanted the dress to be a-line and I made sure the top of the skirt was about a 1/2 inch wider then the bottom of the shirt, so that after I sewed the from and back of the skirt together (using 1/4 inch seams) they would be the same width.

I sewed the front and back together, but I didn't want those seams on the outside.  (Tip: I like to start at the bottom of the skirt to make sure the two parts line up.)  I also made sure to use the bottom of a t-shirt for the last layer so I wouldn't have to do my own hem.  Clever and lazy, yes.  Lastly, I sewed the skirt to the top.

It was a fun project and I was happy to give my dull old knits some extra life.

I hope you're enjoying the Refashionista event.  There's lots more fun to come.  Thanks for dropping in!

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