From T-Shirt To Dress

Last week, my mother brought over the family t-shirts for our big Family Fest which is at the end of December. Since we've grown quite large (8 kids, 7 in-laws, and 22 grand-kids), Mother got t-shirts with different colored for all the families. We got to choose our own color - a big plus of being married. :)

Anyway, when I pulled out F's t-shirt it seemed ginormous compared to her tiny body. So, I asked Mother if I could make it into a dress (why I thought I could really do this well is beyond me; I have very minimal experience sewing). She gave the okay, and so yesterday I got on Pinterest to find a dress that I liked and that looked fairly easy to make. Of course, there were lots of choices. Here's the one I chose.

Pretty simple looking, right? Mine turned out decent, but not as good as that lady's (I've been trying to give myself a little slack. It is, after all, the first dress I've ever made :). I learned from this experience that if I ever have a sewing question, I'll go to this blog. It's perfect. She shows so many techniques with pictures. I love pictures. I can't do anything without them. And, since I am so visually minded, I thought I'd share my whole process with you in pictures...

Last night I started by cutting out the dress and sewing a new hem along the sides of the t-shirt

This was the "before" shot:

Another intent in making this into a dress is so that F can use it this coming summer. So, I picked a dress that is a bit too big on her to use as an outline. 

I kept the original hem at the bottom because I wanted a sturdy and neat looking hem. After looking at it on F I've decided that, when summer comes and it's still a bit long on her, I might just make a new hem that makes the dress shorter...

Cutting the shirt, initially, was the scariest part of the whole process? I mean what if it was a complete flop?! F would always be remembered as the family member who didn't have a shirt on in the big family photo. :( 

                                      

Z thought he'd try it on for size when I was done with the side hems...

This morning I took to the sewing machine to make hems around the arm holes, which probably took the longest for me...unless you count having to undo the stitches when I sewed up the sleeves last night...not my brightest moment. :) 

 Then, I made the neckline out of one of Z's white t-shirts that we got at the county fair this past summer. :) I have always wanted to learn how to do a 5 strand braid, and it turns out it was much easier than I thought; although, I'm not sure I could ever do it with someone's hair.

I don't know why or how, but my braid ended up much more bulky than the other lady's. Her's was so perfectly petite. I think maybe next time I'll try less wide strips of clothe.

 And, this is the finished project. Not quite like the tutorial, but I'm learning. Maybe next time it'll be a little bit better. :)

Oh, and sorry about the photos being cockeyed. Z's the computer-talented one in this family...

This is the winterized version... 

This is the summer version...

F is stoked for this family fest!