Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Tennis Dress (Recycled Tees)

This project has turned out to be my girls' Summer Dress of 2010. (Kind of like the dress of '09 and '08.) With that being said, this one was the easiest of them all!

I did a little chopping up of some t-shirts that were destined for the giveaway box (or trash!) and made this little dress.

All I did was take an existing shirt from my 3 yr olds stash, cut a strip from a different shirt for the contrasting band, and added the bottom hem of one of my old shirts for the skirt portion. I think it took me about 45 minutes to cut and sew one up. Easy, peasy!

I ended up making 4 dresses for my 3 yr old and 1 for my 8 yr old. (I cut up a total of 7 shirts for the 5 dresses.) Two of the dresses started out with long sleeves, but since they were getting too short, I cut the sleeves off and re-hemmed them short. How's that for recycling?

This long sleeved shirt still fit really well, so I took a gamble and kept the sleeves long. I think (hope) it will still fit come next fall. I made the skirt a bit longer than the others in hopes that it won't end up being a mini by fall.

I love how the dress sits a bit lower on the hips. It looks so comfy!

Has anyone else done a recycled tee project? We'd love to see your ideas, too! Leave us a link in the comments...

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9 comments:

  1. LydiaMarch 30, 2010 at 10:15 AM

    Well, I don't have any pictures, but my mom used to cut off the tee at about mid-chest (this was for little toddlers & the mid-90s) and then just sew on the fabric, a bit gathered. Then she'd applique the main "shape" from the fabric (heart, flower, star) on the chest and make a same-shaped pocket. Though I like the lower waisted look.

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  2. AnonymousMarch 30, 2010 at 11:16 AM

    Here's mine!

    http://carrottops-steph.blogspot.com/2010/02/and-now-for-something-different.html

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  3. EmileeHopeMarch 30, 2010 at 11:34 AM

    Love it! Way to recycle!!

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  4. RenaeMarch 30, 2010 at 1:59 PM

    Those are cute. I tried one for B. and she was thrilled. I may have to go thru the stash again and see if I can come up with more.

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  5. LeslieMarch 30, 2010 at 3:24 PM

    Yeah, I like the drop waist. That last one is so cute.

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  6. AlisaMarch 30, 2010 at 5:32 PM

    I love what you've done with these two! Great way to upcycle.

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  7. Katie LewisMarch 30, 2010 at 11:08 PM

    Ooh! I LOVE this! Thank you so much for sharing! :)

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  8. V and Co.April 3, 2010 at 8:25 PM

    oh thanks so much for linking this! too cute for words!!!

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  9. BethApril 3, 2010 at 8:34 PM

    Love it! I'll have to try it. Here are the skirts I recently made from shirts.

    http://plumslife.blogspot.com/2010/03/ive-been-sewing.html

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