Upcycle a Ladies Shirt Into a Child Size Dress

I have been wanting to make my daughter a comfy dress to throw over her swimsuit after swimming. I was planning on crocheting the entire dress.  After brainstorming and searching for the perfect pattern… I just couldn’t get motivated by anything I found or thought up.

That is, until I visited Petals To Picots website. Right on the top of her page, I seen a beautiful crochet African Flower design she made. I searched through her free patterns until I got the instructions. “This is it!” kept going through my mind.

I knew I wanted to use crochet thread so it would be lightweight.. but the thought of crocheting an entire dress out of thread makes me want to crawl into a hole and never come back out. Haha.

And that is when is dawned on me!

I quickly ran to my closet and pulled out one of the many bags I have set aside for donating.. this shirt was right on top! I was so excited as the ideas come rolling through that I got started on the project right away and didn’t stop until it was finished (12 hours later)

Here is how I did it…

The first step is to pick out your yarn. Fetch the free (join as you go)African Flower pattern by Petals to Picots. This flower is so beautiful and the pattern is written very clearly! Remember that if you use cotton thread like I did, it doesn’t stretch. Make enough flowers to fit around the chest of the person you are making it for.

Next you will probably want to make the top of the flowers work into a straight line. The way I did this was like this – 2 HDC into the point of the flower. 2 TRE into the LSC. 2 DTR into each side of the joined point of the flower. Look close at the photo and I am sure you will be able to do this with ease.

The photos are getting darker now because it started raining -but anyhow, You will want to add another row of Single Crochet.. I thought it made a nice finished edge.

 

Lay out your shirt you want to upcycle. Cut it the length you need/want. I attached my crochet piece to the shirt in 4 spaces so I could try to get it sewn evenly around. I sewed this by hand. I am NOT an expert sewer and I made tons of mistakes… but it turned out beautiful! I definitely was breaking out of my comfort zone.. but its so worth it and I will learn from my mistakes for the next time.

Since I used yarn that didn’t stretch.. I needed to make some straps. I was planning on crocheting them when it dawned on me. I have sleeved so many shirts for my husband.. I know if you cut the seam right at the edge.. there will be no need for sewing.. no fringe. So that is what I did.. and attached it to the dress!

I love this dress, and so does my daughter. It made her feel like a fairy <3