DIY T-Shirt Dress

In today’s post: Learn how to make a cute DIY t-shirt dress in under an hour using two men’s tees. It only takes three seams because you can use the existing hem and neckline.

It’s been a long while since I’ve sewn something for myself, and you know my favorite kind of sewing is easy sewing, so I decided to put together a simple DIY t-shirt dress. I’ve been buying my boys these super soft tees at Walmart that are under $6 each and I’ve been jealous of how comfortable they seem. So I used two of them to make a super comfy, casual dress for summer.

Making a dress from t-shirts is SO EASY because all the hard work – like sewing in a neckline and doing the hemming – is already done! This dress only takes three seams to make, plus an optional fourth seam to add a little elastic across the back.

Supplies

To make this dress in a women’s size Medium, you’ll need an X-Small men’s t-shirt and a matching 3X men’s t-shirt. Try on the smaller shirt to make sure it fits you well. (To make this dress in a size large, use a Small shirt instead of an XS.)

I recommend using these t-shirts from Walmart because they are soft and very stretchy, which makes them forgiving size-wise. If you choose to use different shirts, make sure they have plenty of stretch, and again, be sure the smaller shirt fits.

You will also need a sewing machine or serger and matching thread. A little bit of quarter inch elastic is optional to add a more shape to the dress.

How to Make a T-shirt Dress

This is an easy sewing tutorial that should take less than an hour. Be sure to wash and dry your t-shirts before you begin. I think it’s quite a bit easier to sew stretchy knit fabrics on a serger, but you can make this with a standard sewing machine if that’s what you have. When attaching the waist to the top, be sure to use a stitch that will stretch, like a zigzag or stretch stitch. Also, take care (on all your seams) not to stretch out the fabric as you sew it. Let’s get started.

Make the Skirt

Start by laying the larger t-shirt down on a table and smoothing it out flat. The back of the shirt may be slightly longer than the front of the shirt; that’s just fine. Cut the skirt front and back pieces from this shirt, as shown on the photo below. Cut straight across the shirt a couple inches below the neckline. Cut the sides at an angle, down from the shoulder seam to the hem.

Place the front and back skirt pieces right sides together and sew down the side seams. Make sure not to stretch the fabric as you sew.

Attach the Skirt to the Top

Try on the smaller t-shirt, then pull on the skirt as well. Decide where you want the skirt to attach to the top depending on how long you’d like the dress to be. Mark that spot with a pin. Then measure down one more inch (to account for seam allowance) and cut the t-shirt off at that point.

Lay out the top and skirt. You’ll see that the top of the skirt is a little wider than the bottom of the top. If you want the waistline of the dress to be more snug, you can re-sew the side seams, angling them in more so the top of the skirt is the same width as the bottom of the top. I wanted the waist of the dress to be a little looser because that’s the style for t-shirt dresses right now, so I did not do this.

Mark the center front and center back of the skirt with pins, as well as the center front and center back of the bottom edge of the top. Leave the top right side out and turn the skirt inside out. Turn the top upside down and place it inside the skirt, matching up the raw edges. Match up the side seams and pin. Match up the front and back centers and pin. Sew the skirt to the top.

Remember, the skirt was a bit wider than the top, so between the pins the skirt fabric will bunch up. As you sew, gently stretch the top so that the skirt fabric lays flat. Do not stretch any more than you need to. Also remember that this seam must be sewn in a stitch that will stretch, so use a zig zag or stretch stitch if you aren’t using a serger.

Optional: Add Elastic

At this point, the dress is sewn together and looks like this:

Because the skirt was a bit wider than the top, it has a loose waistline, which is a common style for t-shirt dresses right now. I liked the waist being loose in front, but it didn’t hang quite right in the back, so I decided to add some elastic along the back waistline.

The back waistline is about 18 inches wide. Cut a 13 inch piece of quarter inch elastic. Pin it to the seam allowance at each side, and at the center, then sew the elastic to the seam allowance.

Because the elastic is shorter than the waist seam, you’ll need to stretch the elastic until it lays flat against the seam allowance you are sewing it to, again using a stitch that will stretch:

Adding elastic here is optional, but it will give more shape to the dress and, depending on your body shape, may make it more flattering.

And that’s it! It only took four seams to turn a couple of men’s t-shirts into a cute summer dress.