Happy Hump Day Lovelies!!

Last year I stumbled upon the awesomeness of Kid’s Clothes Week but I was too late to enter any of the seasonal challenges when I found them, so I made a note not to miss it this year! This year’s Winter Challenge is UPCYCLED (just a fancier way to say you took something old and made something new).

I enjoy upcycling, I do it every year with the RunForHer Tshirts to make something for Abigail to wear on race day, so I was excited about this challenge. (You can view those Tshirt upcycles HERE, HERE, and HERE).

Finding what to use was easy, the hubby has been talking about getting rid of some of his old work shirts so all I needed to do was visit the closet. haha. We found a bunch, and Abigail picked the one she liked the best (of course it was a shade leaning into purple lol).

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I decided that instead of adding my signature lace or crochet trim to this project, I would try to keep the look of the original shirt without adding any extras. I started by removing the sleeves and pocket.

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I wanted to keep the collar so I cut the shape of the tunic out of the shirt (both back and front at the same time).  And then stitched both sides together.

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I wanted to reattach the pocket, so I added a pleat and created a little bow from remnants of the rest of the shirt.

upcycledshirt_5upcycledshirt_8upcycledshirt_7And added a button from one of the sleeves to add a little cuteness.

From the rest of the remnants, I cut out some sleeves using Simplicity’s 1452 (view F) as the template.

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The sleeves finished with a bit of a flutter, but I wanted more of a capped/puffed look so I pleated it and then added some buttons to add a touch of sophistication.

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NOW FOR ACTION SHOTS: She insisted on using this purse to take pictures because it matched her outfit….lol….

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But that didn’t last for very long….lol

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Then she found her pockets…lol

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Here’s a view of the back, I just love how neat and clean it looks.

upcycledshirt_13beforeandafter

I really enjoyed creating this upcycle, the hubby is pretty excited to see his little princess wearing one of his shirts, and Abbie thinks its hilarious too. He likes it so much he’s already given me 3 more shirts! hahaha! I still have 4 more days until the challenge is over…so who knows what could happen! =) Have an awesome week you guys!! Talk to you soon!

love-candice

32 thoughts on “DIY Upcycled Men’s Shirt to Toddler Sleeved Dress

  1. Hi Candice, this dress is sooooo cute. I would like to try it but not sure how to cut out the tunic. Did you use the same Simplicity’s 1452 pattern for the tunic cut out?
    I’m a novice sewer so need all the help I can get LOL xx
    Have a lovely day …..will defo be following you
    Kind regards
    Emily x

    1. Hi Emily, no – this one was completely free hand. I traced it on paper and then I paced it on top of the shirt so I could make sure both sides were symmetrical, and then cut it out, its a pity I didn’t think to include a picture of that. What you can do, is use a garment you already have, lay it over the shirt and then cut around that, making sure you dont cut around the neck. Thank you for following! =)

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  3. Such great work! Do you have any ideas about upcycling pants with worn-out inseams? my wife has a huge stack of them put away that are just waiting to be upcycled or fixed because other than that, they are in perfect shape. She just doesn’t know how to get started.

    1. Thank you Kellen! Actually, I have a pair of the hubby’s work pants staring at me right now, I haven’t an idea yet…but it would be a great challenge! haha It she’d like to fix the inseams she could patch them! She could use pieces of another pant, to patch another (this works best if they are both jeans! lol) or you could patch it with some fun, funky material just for the fun of it! =) I’ll definitely add this to my “how to” list! =) Thanks for stopping by! =)

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