Tutorial: Adult T-Shirt Dress

This was SO much fun to make!  My boss's son had cleaned out his closet and my boss brought in a few t-shirts he was getting rid of. When I saw one of the shirts, I knew it would be perfect for the t-shirt refashion I've been wanting to do for awhile. I was inspired by THIS video, and made it into my own.  I took 2 t-shirts (one of my snug-fitting shirts and one of his) and made this:

This is how it started out:

Take the large shirt, turn it inside out, and cut off the arms and the collar.  Don't throw any of the pieces away.  We'll use them later in this project. 

Sew the sides leaving the top open. 

Try on the smaller top and mark a spot right under the bust line. 

Draw a line across and then cut off the bottom. 

Place the small shirt right side out inside of the inside out bigger shirt so the right sides are facing each other.  Line up the bottom of the little shirt with the top of the big shirt.  It should look like this except the little shirt will be inside. 

Take a piece of elastic and wrap it snuggly under your bust line.  Leave a little overlap so that it can be zig zagged closed. (I'm blushing a little now. First of all, I'm so glad I shaved. LOL Second, I can't believe I posted this picture.  I'm a really modest person. This picture is all for the sake of a tutorial.) 

Mark the mid-points of the t-shirts and elastic. 

Pin the midpoints of the elastic to the midpoints of the t-shirts. Then pin the sides of the elastic to the sides of the t-shirts. Continue pinning around the t-shirts by finding the midpoints between the pins and pinning together. 

It should look like this when you're all done pinning.

Sew the elastic to the t-shirts using a zig zag stitch.  It should look like this as it goes through your sewing machine. 

Now on to the cute details.  Cut the wristbands off of the sleeves. 

Cut off the seam going up the sleeve. Lay it out flat and cut strips 1 1/2" wide. 

Sew them together end to end and then create a ruffle by stitching down the middle at the highest tension and longest stitch on your sewing machine.  Sorry, I didn't take pictures of this.  For more details on creating a ruffle please see THIS post. I only needed one sleeve for the ruffle, so I'm thinking I'll use the other sleeve to make a flower or something cute. 

If you want to make it a little dressier, try on the dress, mark a spot at the bust and draw lines to create a v-neck. 

Cut the neckline out leaving a small portion of the back collar (I wanted the ruffle to lay up against my neck). Pin the ruffle around the collar and down the front of the shirt. Sew it on. 

Cut a small 1/2" strip from the excess from the collar.  Sew together a few pieces if you need to.  This strip needs to be able to go around the bottom of the dress. 

Pinch the seam at the bottom of the dress and make a small cut.  Only cut the top layer. 

Attach a safety pin to the end of the 1/2" strip and feed it through the bottom of the dress. 

Feed it all the way through so that it can be tied closed. 

It's all done!  Here are the details close up:

Fun, right??  I think it would be super cute with a thick black belt.

Be sure to check back for my next post... my 100th post!  OMGoodness!  I can't believe I've reached that milestone.  Did I mention that there will be a giveaway?? Wooohooooo!!!  I love giveaways!   :o)

I'm linking to Met Monday, It's So Very Creative,  Get Your Craft On, DIY Day, and Made It Monday