Inspired by Traci at Amazing Mae, this was an experiment to turn a men's dress shirt into a summer dress for Goose. Some things I sew turn out fine. But some things work out wonderfully. And I'm in love with this little dress. It was the perfect light-weight dress for our seaside outing.
-------------------------------------------------------------------I started with this (asking my husband's permission first, of course, to cut up his shirt. His response, "I wore that all the time when I was single. Is that why I couldn't get a date?" No, no. Obviously I like the fabric. It was just too big and baggy on him. Thus, time to refashion):
(As my friend Kristena pointed out, isn't it great to take a really bad "before" picture, so that the "after" looks even better? Totally.)The baggy shirt turned into this:
I removed the shirt pocket (which was fine and didn't leave any holes or marks behind). I kept the front buttons in-tact, though the dress doesn't open all the way because the neck is sewn all the way around for the elastic casing.
and it's also sewn all the way around at the waist. The dress needed some spice; and a yellow waistband seemed to do the trick. I created three casings and strung skinny elastic through two of them to gather the waist:
And finished it off with a new hem:
The dress fits great, my husband is pleased with the transformation, and it was so comfortably perfect for summer weather.....I want one too.
Let's hope the weather stays this great.
* For some TRULY amazing Men's Shirt transformations, check out Antoinette at CleverGirl.org. I'll be trying one of those next.
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47 comments:
Lovely little dress. The yellow waistband is just perfect. I have many men's shirts waiting in my sewing room for refashioning. Thank you for the link, too. It was very inspiring..
Dana-
This is so so adorable!! I can't believe how cute this turned out--I never would have guessed it was originally a men's shirt! And I love the yellow waistband.
That mural is cool, and I've never seen it. Which beach did you go to? We're always up for trying new beaches. Oh, and I really like the refashion idea, I may have to head to closet...but then again, if I found anything I'd have to come over and just beg you to show me how to do it, so maybe I'll just look at yours.
I LOVE IT! You are killing me. It is just so awesome. I knew you would spice it up and that yellow waist band did it. Now, I have a few more of Zane's shirts and I am ready to try some spice as well. It really is too cute!
Just right! I want one, too! :)
Oh, it's great! I want to make one for me!
Lovely... the yellow waistband and the cute little puffy sleeves just MAKE this dress.
(PS... I almost never comment, which is awful of me, but your blog is part of my Bloglines collection, and I've been reading and loving every post for ages now! :D Just thought I'd let you know! Keep it up! I love your stuff!!!) (so...many...exclamationmarks...)
adorable! The sweet girl, the dress, the location, it's all wonderful. Thanks for the idea, I may have to go raid my husbands closet and try to make one for my little girl.
I am speechless. This is so darling and so clever. Can I just come live with you for a week and you can teach me a lot of these fun transformations...I promise to help cook and clean in exchange for the wealth of knowledge I would receive!!
Luce Goose looks sooo adorable!
it turned out beautiful!!! and the blue and yellow definitely makes me want to get to the ocean!
I just saw this the other day when I discovered that blog. I love the idea and I really love how yours turned out. The added yellow belt is a nice touch. And I love the pictures of Goose at the beach. I bet you are loving that new camera! I need to start spending some more time at thrift store to do more refashioning. How did you 4 months go without buying anything new anyway?
d that is super cute. i think one of my fav things you made. love the yellow band across. and l looks so freakin cute in all the pics. i looked at that site w/ the two white shirts and bright band that would be super cute on you :)! nice job!
Dana, you did it again! This is a fantastic refashion. I haven't done anything with Evan's old shirts yet, but this really tempts me.
By the way, my word verification is "nonsock." Hm. :)
Wow. YOU ARE SO TALENTED!!! I love this one.
it looks incredible!! I really wish I had your kind of talent. maybe I'll attempt one anyway, my girls really need some dresses this summer
I love this SO much! I almost want her to have a little petticoat in some bright color that peeks out from under one or two unbuttoned buttons at the hem. That splash of yellow is totally doing it for me! Awesome, as usual, you Refashionista.
Oh, and remind me what kind of Magic Camera you decided on?? It's time over here, and I could POP with anticipation--and every single photo you've taken with yours could be framed. I totally need to pick your brain!
Oh, my goodness, that is the cutest dress in the world. Everything you create makes me smile!!
This is FANTASTIC I love it! If I only had a little girl! i'll have to check out the site you got the idea from and see if there are any transformations for boys!
Adorable!! And the dress is cute, too... :) I love the yellow casing - it adds such POP!
This is the cutest! I may have to try this some day, another addition to the to do list!
I am new to your blog and loving it! Your stuff is fantastic. How did you create the sleeves on this dress? I am a novice at sewing, but I'd love to try my hand at this one for my little girl. Any suggestions would be great!
This is so cute, I want to cry. Okay, well... almost. I love the daddy-daughter aspect of it, too.
Love it. I was just looking at my husband's "single guy" button down from Am. Eagle today and trying to come up with something. I like the waistband you did, and keeping the buttons intact. The sleeves are great, too. You did it again!
I want one three! If only they made XXXXXXXL mens shirts. This refashion turned out really, REALLY cute!!! I love the yellow accent at the waist and the elastic neckline with the buttons still intact down the middle! Perfect!
this is darling!
beautiful! love it!
Absolutely awesome!! If I were going to take on a sewing project, this would be it. Thanks for sharing-what a wonderful blog and beautiful girl!
O.K. I may have to try this one out. I have a cute blue plaid of hubby's that doesn't work for him anymore, but it is great fabric. Maybe my almost 6 yr. old will be getting a new play dress/smock/long shirt. I'll have to go check out that link.
This is amazing...I must try this!
Dana, The refashion turned out great - good job! I have a shirt set aside to do this, too. I love the addition of the band. I'm so jealous you live by the beach. Sadly, I'm hours from one.
That's a great way to reuse fabric and save money.
That is absolutely adorable!
OMG! I hope you don't mind me commenting but that is sooooo cute! I am so jeious of your talent!
Love it!
pure awesome genius. And so cute!
Mike at Cry It Out
I love it! I'll check out the link for the other ideas too--if they're half as good as this one they'll be fabulous.
oh dana, this dress is perfect. so so perfect. i'm going to go raid my husband's closet now. . .
this is so gorgeous! i loved it so much i had to post it on my blog. thanks for a great idea.
What a beautiful little dress! I'm not great at sewing, but I think I could handle this (maybe??). Would you mind sharing how you created the sleeves? This is just too darling!
Thank you everyone for your sweet comments. Honestly. I had no idea this would be such a hit (like I said, I want one for me too).
Many of you have asked me how I made the sleeves. I'm hoping to create a tutorial next week so I can explain it easier than I could here. I can't promise anything but I'd love to do one! It's not a hard dress to make. In fact, it's quite simple. So I'll do my best to come up with something!
I'm coming late to this post, but how resourceful and adorable! I just love seeing things get re-used in new and creative ways.
I love that!
Absolutely adorable and inspiring project!!!!
Thank you indeed.
Cata
This turned out fabulous! You are killing me.. that is the cutest dress.
this is so cute! i would love a tutorial on how to make this.
I absolutely love this dress, I accidently found a recon shirt dress on craftster and am currently in the process of turning that into a summer dress for my little munchkin. I absolutely love yours! I am going to have to make a trip to salvation army and get some more mens shirts. This is TO DIE FOR!!! Hmmmm. Maybe I can find a brown mens shirt and do a pink waistband for her "cupcake birthday" Thank you so much for the fabulous idea and such a cute idea!!
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