Upcycled Dresses

 If you have watched me shopping at a thrift store the past months, you may have seen me looking through the extra large skirts. I was searching for long full skirts, with only side seams, in fun prints, in non-wrinkling, stetchy fabric.  

My little girls needed play dresses, and I found that I could make a simple dress in a few minutes from a large skirt. I printed off the pattern for the play-all-day-dress and taped the pieces together. Then I laid the skirt out flat and folded it in half, which made four thicknesses of fabric. I laid the pattern on the skirt on the fold line (not the side seams) and cut it out. 

In the photo above, the fabric on the right is the extra. On the left is the folded dress piece. Since the skirt was folded, I had cut both the front and the back at the same time. Then I slimply stiched up the side seams, stiched the shoulder seams, and hemmed the neckline. I used a zig-zag stitch so that the fabric could stretch without breaking the thread. I kept the original hem and didn't bother hemming the sleaves since the fabric wouldn't ravel. I also didn't put any elastic in the waist.

By the time I had made my second dress, I had gotten even faster.

My girls love having new play dresses. And I love having so little time and money in a dress.

Do you have a favorite upcycle project?