I know I've mentioned over and over about how tall I am, and how frustrating it can be trying to find clothes to fit.
My wonderful Sister-in-law, Casey, recently gave me a big bag of clothes that she wasn't wearing anymore. Among the clothes was the shirt below, which i thought was a fun shirt, but just one problem...yep, just a tad too short in the torso.
Not only do I struggle with things being long enough, but unfortunately, my daughter, Sienna, has inherited my crazy long torso and limbs. The poor girl grows out of things so quick in the length, but never can keep up in width. Lately, she's been hurting in the dress department. She's hit a growth spurt that left most of her dresses looking like mini dresses, and her skirts looking like mini skirts.
So I thought of a solution for the afore-mentioned shirt. Too short for me? Sienna needs dresses? Make it into a dress for Sienna!!
Here is the shirt "Before" (Half sleeves)
1. The first thing I did was I tried the dress on Sienna. I measure where I wanted everything at, including neckline and sleeves. (I didn't really need to measure the waist for this dress, because I just gathered the waist according to the size of elastic I used).
2. After that, I pinned the neckline into a "V" neck where I wanted it.
3. I then sewed a line *just on the collar band* and reinforced seam. Then I cut the extra loop of the band away from the actual t-shirt material along the seam as pictured below.
4. Next, cut off the loop, so the collar looks like an ordinary v-neck seam. Look at the pictures below. That's what you should be left with.
Gather that loop above, and attach to the collar V. There should be no holes after that.
5. Next, cut a piece of elastic to the size you want it. I measured it around Sienna's upper waist snuggly, then cut.
6. Then, attach elastic to the dress (I attached it about an inch and a half under the bottom of the V for a higher, but not empire waist) using the same method for smocking material with elastic,
here. (Step 4)
7. I then cut the sleeves, and let the edge roll. I tapered a pretty big diagonal line from the armpit seam to the shoulder. You'll see in the final picture where it hits.
8. Now it's all about embellishing. I put a faux white top under the V to make it look like a little camisole. I had white knit fabric that I cut into a V that was just a tad bigger than the inside of my V on the dress. Then I attached lace to the top. I then attached the white to the dress by attaching it to the collar seams of the V.
9. I also made a bow for the front using the extra sleeve material.
And we love it!
