On a whim, I bought a men's shirt in a Charity Shop on Friday because the fabric was so pretty. I initially thought I would make a skirt out of it, but soon realised it was better suited to a dress so I could make a feature of the button placket. I really surprised myself with the finished dress, as I had no idea if this would work! I don't have a sewing machine so did everything by hand. I'm really happy with the way it hangs, and it works just as well with a long sleeved t-shirt underneath, as it does by itself. I can see myself wearing this a lot!
The shirt I bought was a size Large so it had the length I needed for a dress. I eye balled all the measurements and continually tried it on and adjusted the pins until I got what I wanted. The dress doesn't have a zip so it needs to pull over your head and shoulders, so I made it slightly loose. The hem of the shirt was already there which made the process quicker. I like the softness of the curved hem and the way the back is slightly longer than the front. Overall, it feels very comfy and casual.
I plan to make more dresses, and I think the shape of each one will come out slightly differently depending on the initial garment. Next time I'd like to use a shirt with buttons all the way up the front. There are so many variations on the simple form and I can't wait to play around!
* How I made the dress *
Other tutorials:
A skirt from a shirt
50 comments:
Genius! You made that look so easy.
wow, you're so clever and creative! looks great! and you're right about that colour - it really suits you :)
Brilliant! And the finished product looks fantastic. :) Erica
wow!!!!
this is seriously awesome!!!! the dress is amazing! i especially love the back where you gathered it. very, very crafty and imaginative! i'm going to tweet about this :D
Oh my gosh. I can not wait to try this.
Oh wow Rebecca absolutely incredible, well done!!
It's fantastic! Now I can do something with all my husband's old shirts... thanks for the tutorial!
It looks great!! I'm really impressed with the transformation of that shirt to a dress! :) I may need to try this someday... looks perfect for summer !
You go girl - I love the dress! Sigh...wish I could sew! ;) xo
this is soooooo awesome! what a great idea. you are a rockstar!
OMG thank you so much for posting this. My hubby has this SUPER BIG button up shirt he has never worn and never will wear. It is the prettiest purple plaid (probably why he won't wear it... freebies... can't say no) and I've been wondering how I could alter it for myself. Thanks!!!
look at you! I am so going to try this!! so great!
wow, i never would have guessed that your dress was a man's shirt. fantastic work!
I thought you bought that dress and were going to wear the men's shirt underneath at first! You did a wonderful job and the tutorial you set up is also great.
Cute! Great job with the hand-sewing, too!
wowww...lovely blog!!!!!!!!
Love it! So pretty, and perfectly paired with your blue tights!
Kelly
you rock! and you did it by hand!!! so sweet.
YOU DID EVERYTHING BY HAND? You are a sewing goddess. Great tutorial!
Unravelled Threads
this is so cute. i'm totally going to give this a try!
great, clear instructions! it's perfect! (and i love that it's all hand sewn.)
Wow, that's a great job, very nice colors!
Can't believe you hand-sewed this. Must have taken ages. Imagine this would be super-quick with a machine. Will have to give it a go.
This is lovely!
Your instructions are so clear, the colours are absolute perfection, and the dress is beautiful! Great work!
We get so spoiled by sewing machines. I love that you made this completely by hand. It's beautiful!
Oh my gosh, I love this! I also am so impressed with your hand stitching! Your amazing!
What a pretty dress!! It would be perfect for the hot, humid days we have to look forward to...
I linked to your tutorial on Craft Gossip Sewing:
http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-summer-dress-from-a-mans-dress-shirt/2010/04/10/
--Anne
really like this! i want to make it but might have to wait till after i am pregnant...
Thank you! This is an awesome tutorial!
This is probably one of the best re-fashions I've seen, best of all it doesn't look like a recycled shirt, but a dress machine-sewn out of fabric cut from a pattern. I love the pleats in the back, so sweet. More tutorials, please!
Wow! That is super cute. I'm going to have to try refashioning some mens shirts now :)
Que lindo esta, ya tengo para hacer vestidos de las camisas de mi hijo, gracias por compartirnos ideas maravillosa
Oh this is so fun! I have something similar sketched out now that I want to try. This gives me the inspiration to do it and it looks simply amazing!
Nice job :)
TÜRKİYE/İZMİR den merhaba,
harika bir dönüşüm olmuş ,süper
This is SUCH a good idea. I am absolutely going to try this. Today! Haha, am very enthusiastic. Thanks so much, and I'm super-impressed by your ingenuity!
Found this on Totally Tutorials, what a great idea! I can't believe you did this by hand! I will def be trying this, thanks for sharing. :)
so cute!!!
cute! I'll have to try this one!
You're my type of lady! I sew stuff by hand and my sisters think I'm crazy. this is a great tutorial!
oh wow this is great! thank you so much for sharing =) amazing job!
Ok, now you're blowing me away! I want to do this to a pillow case (turn it into a dress...) and gave it a shot the other day, and was sad :(
I was trying to do a loose running stitch to gather later and it just unraveled and left me frustrating. I'm thinking "sewing lessons" might be a good place to start! hehe
Cute idea, I take your not very tall, i dont think most mens shirts are long enough for me to make a dress. But I bet this idea would work for my daughter. Thanks for sharing
Super bonne idée
Merci
Amazing... as always
I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You make it seem SOOOOO easy...is it?? I have almost no sewing experience but I really want to make this, it is so ispiringly simple looking. :) I am jealous of all my sewing friends so I'm very happy to see this! and it cant cost that much because you bought an old T shirt
PLUS it looks really good on you :)
It's fantastic! Now I can do something with all my husband's old shirts... thanks for the tutorial!
I've browsed other DIY dress shirt to ladies wear, but I swear, this is one of the best transformations yet. The end product looks amazing! Maybe I'll try to follow the steps you laid out here next time I have the inspiration to turn some of old shirts in my house into these, and even sell them online. I'm excited of the possibilities! Thanks for the idea!
Joel McCall @ CorporateShirtsDirect.com
You have a great artist in yourself. You have made a really awesome looking dress. Thank you for sharing a very valuable information to us. I will definitely to create for me as i'm not much creative I know it will not look as cool as you had created. I'll sure update this kind of stuff in my collection soon so you can even earn money for your creativity.
Whow!!! Good job.. So sweet of you to share this with us. God bless!!!
nice i have not ever seen such a great content keep it up Mens
Wear
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