Making a Dress Out of Old Top

I’m trying to raise a little 3 year old girl to be herself, to test things and do stuff - explore all sides of the world.
She have asked for a dress and when looking at stores it’s almost always pink/ princess like and that is not my daughter.

My daughter loves airplanes, excavators, robots, spacecrafts and dinosaurs.

So when I had a hard time finding anything other then girly dresses I created one out of an old top of mine.

I also bought a couple of plain dresses and made prints for them as you can see among the pictures.

I hope that you can find inspiration to make a dress that suits your child, boy or girl, austronaut or animal lover.

Enjoy!

Materials and Tools

Materials
Long sleeved top, this is a woman size M and my daughter is a size 98/ 104
wristlet fabric

optional material
textile paint
textile glue
paper template
scissor or scalpel

Tools
sewing machine
iron

Cut Dress Into Shape

We start by removing some fabric from the side and top part of the top and to cut off the arms, we will alter them and sew them back on later.

Pin the shoulders and sew back and front together.

Cut Arms and Reattach

Measure the arms of your child and cut the sleeves about one centimeter longer(for seam allowance).

Pin them in place, start at the shoulder and pin the sides at the same time (then it's easier to get the arm hole the correct size :) ) Then just sew it, face to face, first the sides, then the arms.

Add Wristlet

The top already has nice endings on the arms, I just add this cause I wanted some more colors in the dress.

Cut the wristlet twice as long as you want it (you want it to be double) and as wide as the wrist of the child. Be sure to put the stretch in the right direction. Sew it together, face to face.

Fold it in half, so you face the right side and then put the entire thing in the sleeve (see picture).

I pin it in just two places, then I find it easier to stretch the wristlet just about the correct amount when sewing it in place.

Make the same for both arms.

Neckline

I added the wristlet fabric on to the neckline as well.
As I only use a regular sewing machine I zig zagg the neckline. The seams would be prettier on an overlock machine.
after sewing it in place, turn it and pin to inside. I then sew at the edge if the black top fabric (see pictures)

Pockets

I thought it would look good with pockets so I took the remainings of the sleeves too make pockets. I then added a piece of the wristlet fabric at the top of the pocket.
Then I sew it in place with close zig zagg.

Create Application/print

I have printed two copies of the print. Then I cut out as you can see in the first picture.

I paint the stencil on an old tank top.

Then I start to paint. When the painting is done I let it dry and then I add the outline color.

My color has to be ironed upside down for some minutes.

I then cut 5 mm outside of the excavator and sew zig zagg on my sewing machine around the edge.

When I had done this I painted the outside black to make it blend in more with the dress.

Dont forget to iron once again!

Now the print is done!

Attach Print to Dress

I first glue the print in place and then I hand sew it so it really stays in place.

Voila! The dress is done.