Refashioning an Oxford into a Dress

I was inspired to make an Oxford shirt into a dress on Pinterest, via Ali Foster. However I'm cheap and didn't want to pay for the pattern (sorry Ali!), so I took matters into my own hands.

I found a men's  XL Oxford shirt at Goodwill for $4.99! Not to worry, I am wearing shorts under the shirt. Thanks mom for taking my picture!

 First, I had to figure out how I was going to go about this...

I decided to use a tank top I have as a template for where to cut the arm and neck holes.

I cut one side and folded the shirt in half and cut the other side.

Now that the shirt has lost its arms, I had to figure out how to cut the neck. I forgot to photograph this part. First, I cut off the collar. I slipped the tank over the Oxford, and cut the neck line along the tank leaving room for seam allowance.

Turning the shirt inside out, I folded the seams back, flattening them with a flat iron (who wants to lug out the iron and ironing board?!?), and pinned them.

Here's how it looks with all the seams pinned. Then sew the seams.

After the seams of the neck and arm holes were sewn, with the shirt inside out, I took in the sides. I took the shirt in 2 1/2 inches on each side by sewing a line down the shirt.

I cut the sides closest to the new seam.

Finished product! I added a lace sash for texture contrast. I'm really excited to wear this dress over leggings this fall.

DIY Maxi Skirt

With fall coming, back-to-school sales are continuously calling my name. However, my current budget doesn't allow for my dream shopping spree. Ho hum. I stopped at Goodwill today to hopefully fix my shopping itch.

I found this cute dress, by Forever 21, for $4.99. However, in all honesty my boobs won't fit into the top of the dress. I walked around the store three times and couldn't get the fabulous tribal print out of my mind, so I decided to transform it into a maxi skirt.

I cut the top of the dress off, attempting to cut evenly along the pattern.

To make the dress into a skirt I attached it to elastic (not stretched). I measured my waist and added 2 inches. The extra inches allow for seam allowance and makes the skirt easier to get on and off.  Fold the elastic in half and sew allowing a 1/2 inch allowance.

Fold the extra tabs of the elastic back and sew flat.

After looking for my straight pins for 10 minutes, I then folded the fabric over the elastic loop and pinned in place.

I sewed the elastic along the bottom edge of it, grabbing the fabric along the way. Loraine (my sewing machine) and I got into a fight half way through the skirt, where I had to rip the seam and start over, but it was worth it!

Cute and comfy skirt!!

Cost: $7.00 (dress and elastic) Time: 15 minutes

Turning a women's shirt into a girl's dress

The six year old I nanny fell in love with this shirt at Micheal's. Neon colors and stripes are all the rage in first grade fashion this season! Unfortunately it only came in women's sizes. However we bought a small and negotiated she could wear it as a dress, but even as a dress she was swimming in it! So it came to me altering it...




Turning the shirt inside out, first, I lined up the stripes and pinned them so I could shorten the "sleeves". The lines of the stripes provided the perfect lines for sewing the shirt.
 

I borrowed one of my sister's shirts (without her permission of course) to use as a template for how much I should bring in the sides (she's tiny). I couldn't find my fabric pen (my life is a hot mess right now) I pinned where I was going to sew to bring in the sides.
 

Turing the shirt right side out, I didn't like how the extra fabric hung on the back of the collar. I trimmed the shirt the whole way, right above where I sewed. I secured the edges with Fray Check before folding them over and pinning them down. I then sewed across the back for a second time. In hindsight, it would have been easier to just sew across the first time.
 

The back of the neck line doesn't exactly match the rest of the edging on the shirt, but it will do!


SO MUCH BETTER!!!

Project Price: $8.00 Project Time: 30 minutes