Monday, April 27, 2009

A Pretty Frock

I really don't know what else to call it! BBJ is in a Princess Phase right now. She wants to wear dresses every day, and her new favorite is her Easter dress. That's fine, except that the dress has a thin sort of gauzy outer layer and I'm terrified she'll rip it or stain it. So...what's a Mama to do?



Make a new frock! I used one of my husband's older dress shirts. (He's got a closet full, and I told him he had to empty a few out into my craft room if he wanted to buy any more!) I love the idea of making a frock from a dress shirt, because the buttons in the back are already done! I didn't hem up the bottom, but I think I should - she steps on the dress when she's going up stairs.



If you would like a tutorial or more detailed instructions please let me know - I didn't take pictures today because I was in a hurry. I'm planning on making a few more of these, now that I know what I'm doing, and I'd love to share how to do this!


Basically, I cut the bottom half of the shirt off to make the skirt, and then cut bodice pieces out of the remaining fabric, and cut out lining pieces from a thrifted bedskirt. The whole project took about an hour and a half (because I was making it up as I went along) and was very nearly free. (Shirt - on hand, 1/4 yard of a thrifted sheet that cost me $3.)

Do you remember the first time I tried to make a frock from an old button-down shirt?


(Perhaps I've never shared that picture. *sigh* I sent it to BBJ's cousin. She's almost two years older...and the frock was STILL too big for her!)
Looking at this dress makes me so, so happy. What's the last project you did that you just LOVED??

PS - BBJ loved it, too. ;-)

6 comments:

Casey said...

Ooh I really like this! I've got a couple of old dress shirts that I need to do something with... maybe Moo needs some new dresses!

Myrnie said...

Umm...you're really talented. Can we still be friends? Cuz whenever one of my blog buddies gets too talented...they don't talk to me any more. *sigh*

I love the dress, it's a great color for da bubba :)

Mom's Sewing Vault said...

I totally want to make one. I have a bright yellow plaid men's shirt (very California) that I would LOVE to make into a dress for my almost 3 year old! It's just groovy!

Su said...

So gorgeous!!! I can't believe you whipped that up with no pattern.
It's so funny, because I just finished a girl's dress form a shirt last night - I used an online tutorial. Will post about it tomorrow. Thought I'd share that with you because of the coincidence.

Tammy said...

I would love a tutorial on this, Jeff has a few shirts that need to be retired... this would be perfect.

The Fifes said...

Super cute!! Love it!