For His Glory : Easy t-shirt dress!

Let's make a plain shirt into a really cute dress!

Want to? :)

Well, I searched for a tutorial for a t-shirt dress using a t-shirt and one fabric. I needed something SUPER CUTE and SUPER EASY! I couldn't find anything exactly like I wanted so here we are! :)
What do I need?
1 long sleeve T-shirt
1 yard of fabric (depends on size of dress you are making)
Sewing machine
Coordinating thread
Scissors or rotary cutter
Measuring tape or ruler
Marking pen/pencil
Pins

Fabric pieces for a 2T:
Sleeves: cut two pieces 4.5" x 17"
Skirt of dress: one piece 9" x 34"

How did I come up with the measurements??
For the skirt of the dress I measured across the bodice of the shirt where I wanted the skirt to attach. It was 11 inches across. I multiplied 11 inches by 2 to get the width all the way around the shirt. Then I added another 11 inches (width of the shirt) to make room for the ruffles. Then I added 1 inch for the seam allowance. That gave me 34 inches.
Width of shirt all the way around: 11"x 2" = 22"
Width plus another half for ruffling: 22"+11"= 33"
Seam allowance: 33"+1"= 34"
Then, I knew I wanted the length to be a little below the knee, so I measured from the place I wanted the ruffled fabric to begin on the dress to below the knee of the little girl. That gave me 7.5". I then added 1 inch for the bottom hem and .5" for the top seam allowance. So, 9 inches. :)

For the sleeves, I basically did the exact same as for the skirt of the dress. I figured out where I wanted the ruffle to begin on the sleeve, measured width of front side of sleeve, multiplied by 2 to get circumference, added another width to allow for ruffling, plus 1 inch for seem allowances. Ok, is that about as clear as mud?? ;)
Please comment if you have any questions!

Sewing Instructions:
Start with a plain white long sleeve t-shirt...

Sleeves:
Step 1: With RST, sew the short ends of the sleeve piece together. Press open seam allowance.
Step 2: Fold up bottom 1/4" and press. Fold up another 1/4" and press. Sew a top stitch close to edge.

Step 3: Sew two basting stitches for gathering the fabric. Pull basting threads to gather. (Use your longest stitch for the basting stitch. Then to gather, pull the top two threads...not your bobbin threads. Gather until it is the same width as the sleeve where it will attach.)

(As you can see, I took a short cut and didn't cut off the salvage edge. Shhhhhh, don't tell anybody! ;))

Step 4: Repeat steps 1, 2, & 3 for other sleeve piece.

Step 5: Figure out where on the sleeve you would like the ruffled fabric to be attached to the t-shirt. I slipped my ruffled piece up over the sleeve to see where I thought it looked best. Then I marked the sleeve with a frixion pen like this.....

Real professional, huh? Haha!

What's a Frixion Pen? I found this at my local fabric store. It is awesome. You write directly on your fabric with it. To remove the ink, all you have to do is press over it with your iron. It completely disappears! Here is a picture of it...

My markings were very messy at first so I used a ruler to straighten my line before cutting...

And here is the sleeve after it's cut...

Step 6: For the other sleeve, I took the cut off piece of the first sleeve and placed it on top and marked it like this...

Step 7: With RST, slip the ruffled fabric piece up over the shirt sleeve and pin in place like this....

Step 8: Sew piece onto sleeve using a zig zag stitch and a 1/2" seam allowance.
Step 9: Flip the fabric piece over the right way. Press seam allowance up toward the t-shirt and sew the edge of the fabric like this using a zig zag stitch....

Step 10: Repeat for other sleeve.

Yay! You're done with the sleeves! Let's move on to the bodice to finish your adorable dress!!

Bodice:
We will actually repeat alot of what we did for the sleeves to attach the skirt piece to the dress.

Step 1: With RST, sew the short ends of the skirt piece together. Press open seam allowance.
Step 2: Fold up bottom 1/2" and press. Fold up another 1/2" and press. Sew a top stitch close to edge.

Step 3: Just as you did for the sleeves, sew two basting stitches for gathering on the top side of the fabric. Pull basting threads to gather. (Use your longest stitch for the basting stitch. Then to gather, pull the top two threads...not your bobbin threads. Gather until it is the same width as the shirt where it will attach.)

Step 4: Slide the ruffled fabric skirt up over the shirt, pin, and sew using a zig zag stitch.
Be sure to place the ruffled piece where you want it to be attached. My shirt was a little too long, so I moved it up and cut off the extra.