My oldest daughter had no PJ’s for the hot weather. ”Everything is too hot!” she said. No, it can’t be. . . she was right. Everything was flannel and fleece. But I have already blown my budget for the month. Between summer supplies, summer clothes, field trips and so on, I am maxed out.
To my drawers I went and I pulled out 3 shirts that I almost never wear. They are too short and my tummy peeks out when I reach my hands up over my head. No one wants to see that!
So here is how I turned some old long sleeved v-neck t-shirts into cute little nightgowns for my daughter in 4 super easy steps.
The shirts are a woman’s medium and I would say that a 5T to 6X could easily wear them.
Step 1 – Cut off the sleeves and neck, tight at the seam. My t-shirts were v-necks with an existing generous opening. If you are using a smaller crew neck, you may want to make the opening a little larger.
Step 2 – Shape the “Dress”. Taper both sides a bit, cut off an oblong triangle from each side. Sorry, my picture only shows one side, but do cut both sides please!
Step 3 – Sew the sides back up. I used my serger, but you can use a regular straight stitch. Because the shirts are knit, the edges will not fray like quilting cotton.
Step 4- Add elastic to the neck line. I used a skinny 1/8″ elastic and blind stitched it. To do this you straight stitch the end of your elastic for about a 1/4″ to the shoulder seam.
Then switch to a long wide zig-zag stitch. I changed mine to 5mm and 2.5mm. Pull the elastic tight, BUT NOT THE FABRIC. Zig-zag over the elastic. At the end straight, stitch again to attach.
When you are done you get a great stretchy gather, perfect for necklines!
Done! I made 3 in 30 minutes!
I left the edges rough because it is just a nightgown and the baby had enough of her jumperoo. My time was up!
But if you turned the edges over and hemmed them, you could have a super cute dress. It would only take a few extra minutes to hem and it would be fun to do with some of our old graphic t’s. HMM – I may need to try that!
I submitted this to Skip To My Lou for a “Made By You” Feature. Hop on over there to see all the other great ideas and posts Cindy has to offer.
