Like upcycling? Check out the women’s shirt to easy A-line baby dress tutorial or men’s shirt to little boy pajamas!
It’s garage sale season, which means it’s easy to pick up t-shirts for 50 cents or so – much less than it would cost to buy knit fabric. It’s also summer break for the kids, which means it’s a great time to clean out closets and figure out what can be donated or upcycled into something else. Today’s tutorial shows you how I turned a couple of garage sale tees into cute nightgowns for my daughter – it only takes two seams and less than a yard or so of elastic.
Here’s how to turn a tee into a princess nightgown:
I used a women’s size S tee from Old Navy for my 2-yr old daughter. If you have an older daughter you’ll probably need to start with a larger shirt. You want to make sure that the shirt is long enough to fit as a nightgown.
You’ll start by threading elastic through the existing neckband and sleeve hems and gathering them up to fit. This gives the nightie a cute peasant-dress look.
Use a seam ripper to slice a small hole on the inside of the neckbinding, then thread narrow elastic through the neck band and back out the same hole. I used 13 inches of elastic for the neck and about 7 inches of elastic for each sleeve. You’ll probably just want to start with a longer piece of elastic, thread it through, then try on your daughter and tighten as needed. Once you cut your elastic to the right length sew each end together with a zigzag. Repeat on the hem of each sleeve.
Once the neckline and sleeves are gathered, turn the nightgown inside out and lay it on a flat surface. Place a tee that fits your daughter over it, and pin a new seam starting just above the sleeve hem, going up under the armpit, and back down to the bottom of the nightgown as shown below.
Sew new seams and try one to be sure it fits. If it does, trim away seam allowance (if it’s too small you’ll need to unpick your seams and sew new ones – not that stuff like that ever happens to me 🙂
At the hem you can fold your seam allowances to one side and zigzag them down flat so they don’t hang out the bottom of the nightgown. You can even use matching thread if you’re less lazy than I am. (Sorry Mom, but the two-year-old isn’t going to notice I didn’t use matching thread.)
Press the side seams open and you’re through!
My daughter said it looked like a princess dress, so I added a little crown in silver puffy paint to the blue version:
She likes the pink one as well:
I’ve added an even easier version of this same t-shirt to nightgown refashion – find it here!
Like this post? Follow It’s Always Autumn for more:
LINKING Monday: Skip to My Lou | Brassy Apple | Craft-o-Maniac Tuesday: Tip Junkie | Sugar Bee Crafts | Not JUST a Housewife | Homework Today’s Assignment: Be Inspired | Shwin and Shwin | Today’s Creative Blog | Naptime Creations | Chef in Training | The Winthrop Chronicles | Lil Luna Wednesday: Handy Man, Crafty Woman | Southern Lovely | Sew Much Ado | SNAP | Someday Crafts | The NY Melrose Family | Printabelle | Simply Kierste Thursday: Somewhat Simple | House of Hepworths | Momnivore’s Dilemma | The Shabby Creek Cottage | Yesterday on Tuesday | The 36th Avenue Friday: Chic on a Shoestring Decorating | The Shabby Nest | Stuff and Nonsense | It’s a Hodgepodge Life | At The Picket Fence | 504 Main | Whipperberry | Naptime Crafters Weekend: Tatertots and Jello | Little Inspiration | I Heart Naptime
Alexandra says
Thank you for a great tutorial!! I made two of those tonight watching doctor who – it was my relax time after a long day… I love how they turned out! I made them out of my husband’s te’s that have some drawings and my father in law’s poetry on them – it’s a bit crazy, but it’s kind of familysh (is there such word?…)))))) …
I made couple of teeny tiny changes, though! Instead of stitching the seam allowance on sleeves’ hem down with the zigzag, I stitched it with decorative stitch – couple hearts – my machine has tons of those stitches and I hardly use them at all! What a shame… So I thought that was the perfect opportunity! And the second thing I’ve changed was the bottom hem – I cut the t-shirt at an angle but so that I didn’t cut of the bottom hem – I left it intact, so when I started sewing the sides down I had kind of a ring of my bottom hem. And then I stitched the sides finishing it as you would a dart! So I have the bottom hem complete intact! I like it so much )))))
kajero says
I am going to make one of these for me! I have some knit fabric and/or another XXL T-shirt that I will use to length the nightgown. Thanks for such a cute idea! Of course, knowing me, it will probably take me all night to actually get it done.
Jenna says
I just got a new-to-me serger and ive been trying to think of starter projects to do for practice. THIS IS PERFECT! Why? Because, i’d actually be sewing something useful while getting the hang of my new machine — I was thinking the other day that I needed to go buy my daughter some summer pjs. Thanks so much!
Beulah Smith says
love it am now on great grand daughters cheaper for me
Lyndy Deal says
I love your projects. You always capture the BEST expressions on the face of your lovely little girl. She is an absolute doll, almost as cute as my own granddaughters! 🙂
Keep up the good work!
autumn says
Oh, thank you!