Yellow T-Shirt Dress

 A beautiful sunny day was perfect for sewing a cheery yellow dress!  I absolutely love this fabric, and it went perfectly with a stained yellow T-shirt that Rebekah already had. 

 

My supplies:  A stained yellow T-shirt and matching fabric.  I found the fabric on clearance at Walmart for half price!

First, I measured one of Rebekah's dresses to figure out the length I wanted the bodice to be.  Then I cut the bottom of the shirt off. 

Then I measured the width of the shirt, her's was about 12 inches, which makes 24 inches all the way around.  I decided I wanted the skirt to be twice that, and then gathered at the top.  So, my total width of the skirt would be 48 inches, divided by 8 strips of fabric, which equals 6 inches each, 6 1/2 with the seam allowance of 1/4 inch.  I cut out 8 strips of fabric, each 6 1/2 by 18 inches long (measure a current dress to get the length).  Here are my pieces laid out:

Sew all the strips together.  I also zig zagged each edge after sewing them together, which will prevent fraying.  Then zig zag the side that will attach to the bodice.  Next, bast the same edge without back stitching.  Pull one of the threads to gather the fabric.

Pin the skirt to the bodice and sew:

For the tie, I just made a tube of fabric, hemmed at each end, and then top stitched it to the dress on the top and the bottom.  Don't forget to hem the bottom of the skirt!

For the ruffles on the neckline, I used the bottom of the shirt.  I cut it into one inch strips, basted down the middle of each strip, and pulled the thread to gather it.  You can see a tutorial on Make It & Love It.

Rebekah was up for a photo shoot, until someone else took the camera and tried to take a picture with me in it!  Here she is pouting, but you can see a nice profile of the dress!

 

I'll be linking up with Keeping it Simple today.  Spend some time looking at all the other creative projects if you have time today!

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