Making Stuff: Girls T-shirt dress {vintage maxi skirt refashion}

Even though I live in the Antique Capital of Southern California, I rarely purchase clothing at the many antique and vintage stores that surround me.  Most of the time, I just can’t bear to pay the inflated cost when someone else has to find me the “good stuff” when I love to find the “good stuff” on my own at thrift stores and garage sales.  But, there are times when I pop in to check out a new antique mall and find something I just can’t pass up.  This time it was a women’s maxi skirt striped with trim and multi-colored embroidery for $20.  It was far to heavy and crazy to stay a maxi skirt for my taste so I hacked off the bottom, making myself a quick, above the knee skirt.  The excess skirt material was just enough to make Pumpkin a fancy t-shirt dress.  Two pieces of clothing made the $20 price tag a little easier to stomach for this thrifter.

Basic Steps:

Supplies: rectangular skirt piece (already hemmed), old t-shirt, 1 1/4″ elastic  (I dyed my white elastic to a vintage brown color)

-Mark waist on the t-shirt at cut off excess fabric length

-Cut elastic the same length as the circumference of the shirt + 1″ for seam allowance.

-Sew elastic in a loop with a 1/2″ seam allowance.

-Divide the elastic into fourths and mark. Divide the skirt top into fourths and mark. Matching 1/4 marks, stretch the elastic while sewing to the skirt (with wrong side of elastic overlapping onto right side of skirt).  A zig zag stitch will allow the elastic to stretch after it’s sewn.

-Sew the other edge of elastic onto the bottom of your shirt using a zig zag stitch.