The Re-Tee Dress Tutorial

Before summer ends I wanted to show my new favorite DIY baby dress.  I call it the Re-Tee Dress.  Why?  Because it's made with an old t-shirt & just a 1/4yd of cute fabric.  Recycling at its finest!!  It's super easy, oh-so-cheap to make and looks very cute on.  So here's how to do it:

You'll need:
1/4 yd of cotton fabric for under 12 months, 1/3 yd for under 24 months, 1/2yd for older
1 old t-shirt or onesie
1/2 yd Decorative elastic (or stretchy ribbon)
The usual sewing notions (measuring tape, iron, scissors, pins, marking pen, etc.)

Step 1 - First you'll need to make the stretchy top part.  If you've already got a onesie or t-shirt that fits baby, cut the body section into two strips, lengthwise, that are each 4 inches high & skip to the next step.

If you're using a larger t-shirt (I used an old one of my husband's), measure baby's chest area all the way around, add 1 inch for seam allowance and then cut two large rectangles from the t-shirt that are that long and 4 inches high.  Fold them in half like this, right sides together and stitch down the open width side so you have two tube-like pieces:

I then cut trim the raw edges with pinking shears so they look pretty & won't fray.

Step 2 - Take your 1/4 yd of fabric and with right sides together fold the same way, with the selvedges meeting and sew them together with a 1inch seam allowance like this:

Press the seam open & topstitch if desired.

Step 3 - From the elastic/ribbon, cut your two shoulder straps.  7.5 inches long works for around 6-12 mos, adjust length as needed depending on size/age.

Step 4 - Take the tee-shirt tubes and put them right sides together & lining up the seams so that they are meeting in the middle of the back.  Sandwich your elastic in between the right sides about 2 inches in from the side edges of the tubes and pin like this:

Since the elastic is in the middle of the fabric layers and wrapping from one side to the other it should look like this on the unpinned end:

Sew 1/2 inch seam allowance all the way around the pinned end of the  "tube" so both fabric & the straps are all stitched together.   When you open it up it should look like this:

Step 5 -  About 3/8 inch from the raw edge of the top of your skirt piece, do a baste stitch (**if your print is directional make sure you are basting the right end!!).  Pull the threads to gather like this:

Step 6 - Insert your skirt piece into the tube so that both raw edges meet.  Make sure that the back seams of both pieces line up and pin all the way around, adjusting the gathers as necessary:

Step 7 - Carefully stitch 1/2 inch seam allowance all the way around, removing the pins as you go:

Flip right side out & press seam downward.

Step 8 - Fold up the raw edge of bottom of the skirt and press fold with iron.  Fold over again as much as desired for the hem length and then stitch in place.  I left mine long so it would be a sundress style.  Now you're done!

TA-DA!!  A cute & comfy little dress with little cost but a lot of style!!

 Sharing this with my fave link parties too so check them out here!