A couple of weeks ago my daughter (4 yo) decided that wearing a skirt and t-shirt to daycare was unfashionable and embarrassing, and each morning sobbed about getting dressed into this sun safe but ’embarrassing’ combination.

Being the dutiful (read tired of arguing about it) mother that I am, I whipped up this little sun safe dress from 2 identical t-shirts that she had.

I love it, and I am glad I went to the trouble to accommodate her developing sense of fashion, but wouldn’t you know…

This week skirts and t-shirts are fine again 🙂 #mumlife

If you would like to make a little 2 t-shirt dress for your little fashionista (or for yourself for that matter) read on for a run down on how to do it

You will need:

• 2 identical t-shirts (if you are making this for an adult, make sure the cut of the t-shirt is such that it fits around the hips with ease).
• a length of 6mm wide elastic the length of half the wearers waist measurement.
• Scissors, safety pin, sewing machine and thread.

and then get started:

1. Press your 2 t-shirts and get them as square as you can (if they are pre-worn they will probably be a bit twisted)
2. Cut the top off one t-shirt just below the sleeves and cut the hem off the other t-shirt. Make sure you keep the stitching intact on the hem as we are going to use that.
3. Cut your hem in half and cut the side seam off each half, leaving you with two tubes of fabric. Attach a safety pin to the end of one as shown.
4. Use the safety pin to thread the end back through the tube, turning it inside out. Repeat with the other tube.
5. Tie a knot in one end of each of the turned tubes.
6. Put the top and bottom sections of your dress together with the right sides of the fabric facing each other and sew or serge around the waist. Then sew another seam 1cm (3/8″) back from the edge you have just sewn (check out the pic for details). This section of ‘seam allowance’ will form the casing for your elastic and waist ties.
7. With your dress lying out flat and inside out, flip the ‘seam allowance’ that just created upwards and sew across the back of the dress along the top of the ‘seam allowance’ creating a casing for your elastic.
8. Thread your elastic through the casing that you just created using your safety pin and anchor each end at the side seam with some machine or hand stitching. At the same time, anchor the un-knotted end of each of your ties to the end of the casing at the side seams as shown.
9. Cut 2 small holes in your fabric in the center front just above your waist seam (as shown), and thread the knotted ends of your ties through them
10. Flip the front portion of the ‘seam allowance’ upwards over the ties and sew down to create a casing just as you did for the back portion. Be careful not to catch the ties in the seam as you sew the casing down

And there you have it! A cute summer tie waist dress.

If you make 2 T-shirt dress, be sure to grab some pics and hashtag them #SEW4BUB I would love to see your creations!

Thanks for reading
Liz xx