What I Wore Wednesday #6 Nerd Alert!

This began as a regular men's t-shirt... and today I'm showing you how to make it into a dress!

A friend of ours gave Brendan some old shirts to use for work. He is always getting covered in grease and filth, and he ruins clothes pretty frequently. I found a few treasures in the bag of shirts as well, including this Rubik's cube shirt, which I thought would make a cute dress.

I started with a men's XL t-shirt. It isn't quite long enough to be a dress, so I paired it with some leggings for a fun little tunic.

Here are the basic steps to follow:

1. Begin by cutting off the sleeves and collar. Follow just inside the seam lines. Set the sleeves aside.

2. Turn the shirt inside out and put it on. Then place safety pins along each side. This is where you can determine the fit... place pins closer to your body for a tighter fit, and further for a more loose fit.

3. Take off the shirt and lay it out flat. Use chalk or a disappearing ink marker to mark along the pins.

4. Sew along the chalk line, removing the pins as you go. If your machine has a stretch stitch, use it here. If not, use a long thin zigzag stitch. After you've sewn along the lines, cut the excess fabric about 1/4" from the seam.

Now for the sleeves...



5. I trimmed down the original sleeves even more, making a basic tank top cut. Grab the sleeves you set aside earlier.

6. Turn the sleeve inside out, and place it in the arm hole, right sides together. Beginning at the bottom, start pinning around the circle.

7.The sleeves will have a wider circumfrence than your open arm holes, so make a large pleat at the top of the sleeves and pin. This will create that ruffled/flared sleeve.

8. Sew around the outside with a 1/4" stretch seam or zigzag.

9. Trim the sleeves to your desired length by marking the top and bottom with chalk and cutting from one mark to the other.

Now your dress should be ready to wear!

I love this because it is customize-able to the fit of your choice. You can choose any type of sleeve or no sleeve at all!

I hope some of you try this! I'm going to make a few more... that bag was packed full of quirky t-shirts that I'd like to customize.

I hope you are enjoying your week!

DON'T FORGET Craft Couture is hosting a giveaway for my shop! Head over to enter!

Giveaway closes tonight at 11:59 pm :)