"Teecycle" Dress Tutorial and GIVEAWAY!!!! CLOSED.

August 11, 2009

Are you like me? Do you have a box full of old tee shirts. Some are too sentimental to throw away. Others are just too big, too stained or too tight. Don't fret. There are so many things you can do to recycle a used tee shirt. I think you'd be surprised how many wonderful things! I like to call this little hobby- "Teecycling". So I've decided to dedicate a post every week (well in theory) to our old friend, the tee shirt.

First 'Teecycle'- a child's tee-shirt dress tutorial. Do you have the same problem as me? Chocolate milk stains on EVERYTHING! Those bastards do NOT come out. The military should look into the power of the chocolate milk stain. It could change the world I tell you. I TELL YOU!

This idea works well for soiled shirts. If the stain is near the middle or bottom of the shirt you can simply cut it off. The cute shirt pictured to the left was from Gymboree. I liked the embroidered strawberries and didn't want to throw it away just because it happened to have a chocolate milk stain.
Since this was such an easy, simple piece. The only thing you have to do to be entered in this giveaway is to leave a comment in this post.



Step 1. Find an old tee shirt. Preferably one that has a defect under the line at which you are going to add the skirt.






Step 2. Cut the tee shirt. I chose to do a dress with an empire waist. BUT, you could also do a traditional waist. If that's what you prefer just make the cut a little lower, at the waistline. Another idea, don't cut the shirt at all. Just add a skirt at the bottom of the shirt for a flapper look. I've seen a couple Carter dresses like this and works well with polo shirts.


Step 3. Choose a fabric for your skirt. I choose a piece of fabric I found in my scrap drawer. You want a piece that's about twice the circumference of the waist you just cut. The length will depend on whether you decided to make an empire, traditional or flapper skirt. Measure from the bottom of the cut shirt to your child's knees then add an inch for allowances. Take those two measurements and cut your fabric. Then fold and sew a 3/4t hem at the bottom.


Step 4. Gather the top. In case you don't know how to gather, I'll give you a quick mini tutorial. Set your machine to the longest setting and loosest stitch. Then sew from one end to the other. DO NOT BACKSTITCH! Knot one end. Take the other end and separate the two pieces of thread. Hold the top thread and push the fabric across, creating a gather. Be careful not to snap the thread. Gather the fabric to the correct length. You can figure out the length by lining it up to the circumference of your tee-shirt's waist, adding about 3/4" for allowance.




Step 5. Once you have the fabric gathered to the correct length sew the two sides of your skirt fabric together (right sides facing) so that you have a "tube".







Step 6. With right sides together sew the gathered tube to the cut tee shirt. To do this, turn the tee shirt upside down and place it inside the skirt. BE SURE THAT THE RIGHT SIDES ARE TOGETHER!







Step 7. Turn right side out and you're DONE! Since I used a scrap piece of fabric I couldn't make the length long enough and altered the first photo to appear longer. So I would say that this little dress would fit a 12-18 month old.

Since this was such an easy, simple piece. The only thing you have to do to be entered in this giveaway is to leave a comment in this post.

77 {comments}:

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

Perfect!! We get so many stained tees!

Marsel said... Best Blogger Tips

I don't need to be entered in the giveaway, since my daughter is too big to wear this, but I HAD to leave a comment to tell you that I love this idea and I can't wait to use it with some of our cast-offs!!! Thank you!

Aleisha said... Best Blogger Tips

I can't wait to go home and go through my daughter's t-shirts now! Thanks!

Brittany said... Best Blogger Tips

Wow! I am so excited about this. Something I can do and I have too many tees to choose from. I can't wait to get started! Thanks!!!!

Shana said... Best Blogger Tips

What a GREAT idea! I have 2 girls and a plethora of tee shirts!

Now if I could just learn to gather....

Sarah MomE25 said... Best Blogger Tips

Love It!

TZel said... Best Blogger Tips

This is such a great idea! My niece would look supercute in this dress- thank you!

marie said... Best Blogger Tips

What a fun idea ~ with two little grandaughters growing like little weeds I know there will be oodles of t-shirts to play with. Thank you for sharing this cute "teecycling" dress!

Elana Kahn said... Best Blogger Tips

Man, I wish I knew how to sew... My daughter would look so adorable in that (when she grows into it...)

Catarina said... Best Blogger Tips

I love this dress.
Maybe I'll try to do this and offer to my friends who have girls, as I only have one boy.

Robin said... Best Blogger Tips

My daughter stains tees just by looking at them- thanks for this.

monica said... Best Blogger Tips

Very cute! Too bad I won't be able to do this with my boys shirts! Maybe I can get a hold of some of my nieces tshirts!

Lynette said... Best Blogger Tips

Thanks for the idea =) I just refashioned one of my tshirts into a dress for my girly- girl. I have the same ability to stain tshirts that she does =)

Serena said... Best Blogger Tips

Very cute. I love the fabric you used. I've had a few t-shirts set aside for this purpose for a while now. Not sure when I'll actually get to them!

Brooke said... Best Blogger Tips

How Cute! Thank you for the great info.

Karin said... Best Blogger Tips

very cute!!
great idea.

greetings karin

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

This is so cute, and would be perfect for my friend's little one for next summer!

Genevieve said... Best Blogger Tips

wow what a great idea!! thank you so much for sharing and i love the teecycled dress!! :)

julia said... Best Blogger Tips

Very sweet!

lislynn said... Best Blogger Tips

Can't wait to see more teecycling ideas!

Monica said... Best Blogger Tips

That IS a great idea! Please enter me! I really want to win it for my niece! She doesn't have very many dresses, maybe like two or three. She is very girly, likes to dress up, and likes to were her mom's make-up ;0) I want her to dress like she acts... if that makes sense :P

mel said... Best Blogger Tips

What a fantastic idea!

Thanks for the tute and the chance to win!!

sarah said... Best Blogger Tips

i love this idea, it would work for stained onesises too!

Coertze Peters said... Best Blogger Tips

OK, you have inspired me to do something with all our chocolate milk stained tee's!!!
Thanks!
Helene
helenepeters1@aol.com

Mearaid said... Best Blogger Tips

This is also a great idea if your daughter is tall but very slim. A great way to hide the tummy that is poking out of the bottom of a t-shirt.

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

Cute Cute Cute. I love upcycled outfits

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

I've been learning how to sew - this is a great project to practice with! Thanks!

vikingmom said... Best Blogger Tips

Cute, I need to try this!!!

Gloria P. said... Best Blogger Tips

Creative, and cute not to mention your recycling! Great work.

The Sewing Dork said... Best Blogger Tips

I think it's great that we can introduce our children to the concept of upcycling with these projects. Reusing things and reducing consumerism is a big part of their future.

Mark said... Best Blogger Tips

Wow, this is such an easy project. I think I'll try with long sleeve tops for the fall. Thank you so much!

Angie Mae said... Best Blogger Tips

Fabulous idea! Can't wait to get started.

Dee said... Best Blogger Tips

My wains are too big to wear this one, but I'm going to maks one each for them this summer. And if I can't find an stained tee-shirt I night just use a good one - I love it that much!
Thank you.

snarflemarfle said... Best Blogger Tips

What a cute project! Unfortunately, my daughter makes all of her stains on the collar of her shirts! But, this would be a great project with some toddler shirts from goodwill! I'm not that great of a seamstress (I decided I didn't like the look of the word "sewer") but I think I could totally make this!

Candy said... Best Blogger Tips

So cute! Now, if only I could sew!

Nic Wood said... Best Blogger Tips

what an awesome idea - thinks so much - definately going to try this!

TUTU Monkey said... Best Blogger Tips

so cute!!! Thanks for the easy to follow directions:)

♥n said... Best Blogger Tips

This is so adorable. Thank you and I can't wait to make one for my little girl.

♥n said... Best Blogger Tips

This is so cute. Thank you for sharing. I can't wait to make one for my little girl.

Valeria said... Best Blogger Tips

Great idea.... so many tshirt too!!!!

Andi said... Best Blogger Tips

What a great idea.
I have just done my very first "re-fashion".
See:
http://patchandi.blogspot.com/2009/08/my-first-re-fashion.html
So this is very timely for me. I now have a bit of a taste for this sort of thing.
Cheers,
Andi :-)

Ashley said... Best Blogger Tips

Super cute, I'm totally going to have to do this!

Mary said... Best Blogger Tips

You're right about chocolate milk -- what do they put in that stuff?! This is a fantastic idea and tutorial. Thank you!

Cheilita said... Best Blogger Tips

super good. i love a good tshirt recycling. the goodwill bargain bin is awesome for crazy tshirts. i loved making tshirt dresses this summer! can't wait to see whats next!

selahestelle said... Best Blogger Tips

I'm so excited to keep up with your blog now! With a 7.5 month old little girl, I'm just now entering a phase of wanting to make little dresses and looking for good ideas. I can't bear to throw out any piece of fabric or item of clothing that I feel like I can do something more with, so this is great! Thanks so much!

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

This is such a cute and thrifty idea. I, too, hate to toss a good shirt just for a small stain. Hope I win!
Susan
sgalasso@triad.rr.com

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

Your site very useful.
When I read the article and see a variety, it makes me happy.
Permission to offer my website,
A site about dress

thank a lot your information
and thank you very much for I had the opportunity to publish my work. :)

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

Would love to win this for my newborn daughter. It would fit her perfectly next summer!

Laura K (laurazig@yahoo.com)

MIchelle said... Best Blogger Tips

I am IN LOVE with your site! Thanks for this idea, we have a lot of stained t's. Mandrjack@gmail.com

vmsb said... Best Blogger Tips

so cute - thanks

Dianna said... Best Blogger Tips

Wow, you make it look so easy I might even be able to do it.

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said... Best Blogger Tips

Hi Kathlene! I just wanted to let you know that I featured you as one of my top 5 blog crushes today! Thought you might want to come see. Have a great day!

http://rtheyallyours.blogspot.com/2009/08/blog-crushes-i-have-and-why-i-emmulate.html

gigi said... Best Blogger Tips

You are just to smart! Way to go for recycling too.
All smiles.

HoopDeeDoo said... Best Blogger Tips

Awesome! I gave this a try today and it was a breeze! Thanks for the great idea!

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

This little dress is way too cute! I'm going to have to try it myself. I would love to win this dress!!
Amanda R. from Washington

Rebekah said... Best Blogger Tips

This is such a cute idea! I wish I had a little girl to make this for! So adorable and a great way to recycle!

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

What an excellent tutorial, Thank you so much. I have a hundred ideas for this! The dress is just adorable too, and I love the coordinating fabric you just happened to have around. Well done!

Just His Best said... Best Blogger Tips

Why, oh why, oh why have I never thought of this?? Thanks!

Natalie Jane said... Best Blogger Tips

I linked anyway since it is such a great idea!

Jan said... Best Blogger Tips

What a great idea, thanks!!
Jan
jmillerts@hotmail.com

Shannon said... Best Blogger Tips

Is this really as easy as it looks? Thanks!

severts6 said... Best Blogger Tips

Thanks for the awesome tute!! I have 3 daughters and plenty of stained tees, I can't wait to get started! This is sooo cute!

Ginny said... Best Blogger Tips

What a great idea! Think of all those shirts that not only get to small, but get stains on them. Great way to repurpose!

SerendipiT said... Best Blogger Tips

My friends often joke about the fact that I can make anything out of a t-shirt. I do love new t-shirt clothing tutorials; thanks so much for posting this one. This week I made a shrug and a skirt and will post my tutorials to www.icouldsewdothat.com this week.

Anne said... Best Blogger Tips

SO adorable!! If I don't win, I am definately going to have to make this! annemolino at hotmail dot com

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

so sweet

Amanda said... Best Blogger Tips

Wow that is such a cute idea, if only I had a sewing machine, maybe that will be on my Christmas list. Love these dresses, talk about making it unique. Love it!

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

I love it! What a great way to recycle stained shirts!

Yoga with Gaileee said... Best Blogger Tips

Too late for the contest, but I made a 3 tiered with a ruffle attached, TeeCycle Dress, based on your blog!

Thanks for the idea!

Gaileee
yogawithgaileee@gmail.com
Love 2 Sew 4 Fun!

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

can't wait to try this.

emma_G said... Best Blogger Tips

I just found this yesterday and today made my 2yr old daughter a dress and myself a dress :)

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

great idea; i think i'll try it!

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

I can't wait to go home and go through my daughter's t-shirts now

Cheap Funny Shirtsg

Michelle.M.Photos said... Best Blogger Tips

I love this so much because my daughter has a very long torso and is tall for her age, so most of her shirts either end up being belly shirts with the slightest lift of her arms, or are to fat because we had to buy a size up. Now instead of giving a bunch of Ts to goodwill I think I will play with them like this and see how they turn up. I'll share the link when I'm done and get it on my blog - hopefully I'll have time to do it before Summer ends.

jahitbynadia said... Best Blogger Tips

its very cute..i think i can try this..

trailmarky said... Best Blogger Tips

So cute little girl!

Sourav said... Best Blogger Tips

Thanks for the beautiful idea, re-cycling t-shirts are very useful, and some of these designs are impressive. Small girls would love them.
T-Shirts Online

 
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