Wednesday, August 18, 2010

The Re-Tee Dress Tutorial



Before summer ends I wanted to show my new favorite DIY baby dress.  I call it the Re-Tee Dress.  Why?  Because it's made with an old t-shirt & just a 1/4yd of cute fabric.  Recycling at its finest!!  It's super easy, oh-so-cheap to make and looks very cute on.  So here's how to do it:

You'll need:
1/4 yd of cotton fabric for under 12 months, 1/3 yd for under 24 months, 1/2yd for older
1 old t-shirt or onesie
1/2 yd Decorative elastic (or stretchy ribbon)
The usual sewing notions (measuring tape, iron, scissors, pins, marking pen, etc.)

Step 1 - First you'll need to make the stretchy top part.  If you've already got a onesie or t-shirt that fits baby, cut the body section into two strips, lengthwise, that are each 4 inches high & skip to the next step.

If you're using a larger t-shirt (I used an old one of my husband's), measure baby's chest area all the way around, add 1 inch for seam allowance and then cut two large rectangles from the t-shirt that are that long and 4 inches high.  Fold them in half like this, right sides together and stitch down the open width side so you have two tube-like pieces:


I then cut trim the raw edges with pinking shears so they look pretty & won't fray.

Step 2 - Take your 1/4 yd of fabric and with right sides together fold the same way, with the selvedges meeting and sew them together with a 1inch seam allowance like this:


Press the seam open & topstitch if desired.

Step 3 - From the elastic/ribbon, cut your two shoulder straps.  7.5 inches long works for around 6-12 mos, adjust length as needed depending on size/age.

Step 4 - Take the tee-shirt tubes and put them right sides together & lining up the seams so that they are meeting in the middle of the back.  Sandwich your elastic in between the right sides about 2 inches in from the side edges of the tubes and pin like this:


Since the elastic is in the middle of the fabric layers and wrapping from one side to the other it should look like this on the unpinned end:


Sew 1/2 inch seam allowance all the way around the pinned end of the  "tube" so both fabric & the straps are all stitched together.   When you open it up it should look like this:


Step 5 -  About 3/8 inch from the raw edge of the top of your skirt piece, do a baste stitch (**if your print is directional make sure you are basting the right end!!).  Pull the threads to gather like this:


Step 6 - Insert your skirt piece into the tube so that both raw edges meet.  Make sure that the back seams of both pieces line up and pin all the way around, adjusting the gathers as necessary:


Step 7 - Carefully stitch 1/2 inch seam allowance all the way around, removing the pins as you go:


Flip right side out & press seam downward.

Step 8 - Fold up the raw edge of bottom of the skirt and press fold with iron.  Fold over again as much as desired for the hem length and then stitch in place.  I left mine long so it would be a sundress style.  Now you're done!


TA-DA!!  A cute & comfy little dress with little cost but a lot of style!!


 Sharing this with my fave link parties too so check them out here!


38 comments:

  1. I absolutely adore this! I just got my first sewing machine and I mostly got it so that I could make adorable outfits like this for my daughter! Very inspiring! :D

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  2. to stinking cute i want to make this thank you so much for sharing

    Amanda @ http://patriciaraedesigns.blogspot.com/

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  3. your little one looks sooo sweet in your amazing little creation. don't you just love it when that happens?

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  4. I want to make one of these asap for my lil' neice! So cute and affordable...which I really like!

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  5. This is so adorable! So cute I love it.

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  6. So cute!! I'm going to have to do the math to make this dress in size 4T for my little bug

    Caroline

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  7. I am not sure what I love more the dress or your adorable model. Look at those cheeks!!

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  8. Very cute. I will have to try this out. :)

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  9. I absolutely love love love this dress. Super like!! I have lots of old-t-shirts in my closet that I can use to make cute dress like this. It's my dream to see my little niece wearing my creations, this dress will be my first project. Thanks for sharing this tutorial. :)

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  10. What a cute and simple dress. And your model is adorable. Thanks for sharing this tutorial! Visiting from Trendy Treehouse creative share. Rebecca

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  11. What a lovely baby dress. And the little model is just adorable.

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  12. Aww, that is way cute! Thanks so much for the doable instructions, I'll be linking.

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  13. Oh so sweet and the baby is adorable! Thanks for the tut on how to make one of these. I want to do this for my sweet DGD.

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  14. So cute! What a great idea!

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  15. Aww, that's cute and smart. Your daughter is darling. I love the hairdo hats in your sidebar. Thank you for linking.

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  16. What a great dress! Thank you for sharing with us. Your daughter is adorable, makes me want to have another...my 'baby' just turned 2 today! can't wait to try this dress out!

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  17. This is so adorable! I cant decided which is more adorable...the dress or the baby! :)

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  18. Cute! So do you love the teething necklace as much as we love ours?? DS has been wearing one for over a month now and I love it!

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  19. this is brilliant! adorable, really!

    Here from FFF, happy weekend!

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  20. Beautiful! :) I'm just trying to learn to sew - actually...just thinking about trying to learn LOL...but I love your blog! I'm your newest follower :)

    http://dreamingmommy.blogspot.com/

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  21. I have a sewing blog too and I am such a begginer! I am really going to enjoy viewing your projects and trying them myself!!! So glad I found this blog
    Tara
    http://sewandtellbytara.blogspot.com/

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  22. That is such a darling little dress! :-) The model is cute too. :-) Great idea.

    Thanks for visiting Cranberry Morning! :-)

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  23. Oh my goodness that is ADORABLE. Thanks for linking to FTF!

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  24. what a beautiful dress and model. Thanks for showing us how to make this super cute little dress

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  25. Love this and actually have something similar on my to do list for my daughter using a tank top. Your model is TOO precious!

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  26. Love that dress! What a great idea!

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  27. Thanks for linking up to my Everything Nice Baby Girl Link Party!

    madincrafts.blogspot.com

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  28. I love this. Adorable! I love the necklace with it. She is a cutie:)

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  29. Great tute! The dress is cute, but I'm afraid she stole the show! And thanks for joining my link party! Please come again.

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  30. Awesome tutorial and darling results! I love projects like this!

    Thanks for linking up at Craftastical!

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  31. this is just adorable! thanks so much for sharing on Craft Schooling Sunday, great to see you!

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  32. Hi Cheryl, I love that dress and Iwas wondering if you could give me any tips on making one for a five year old girl? I am very new to sewing but keen to try this pattern out. Thanks
    also, the post above with the matching diaper cover - care to share a tutorial on how to make diapers and covers (like that one?). I'm just into cloth nappies and would like to make some of my own. Your tutorials are easy for beginners to follow and your stuff is AMAZING!

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  33. Love this! I used cotton interlock for the top and for the straps. I linked your tutorial to my blog. Thank You for posting!

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  34. Someone just sent me a link to this project...it is so cute! Can't wait to try it!

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  35. I switched patterens and fabric to get a change in print and sids

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    Replies
    1. I'd love to see it Linda - feel free to link it to my Craftastic Monday party!

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