toddler owl dress tutorial- amy+mayd

I’ve been wanting to try a toddler dress version of the maxi dress tutorial I posted last month and having exhausted my “to- do before baby” list, I gave it a shot yesterday! I think it turned out pretty darn cute. So today I will take you through this simple project making a toddler dress from a five dollar target t-shirt. The whole project only cost about $10 total plus about two hours of time. Gemma loves to help me do sewing projects so we had a fun afternoon with this project.

toddler owl dress tutorial- amy+mayd

toddler owl dress tutorial- amy+mayd

Here is how you can make your own toddler dress:

What you’ll need:

• five dollar toddler t-shirt
• fabric of your choice 1/2 yd.
• elastic thread
• regular thread
• fabric for sash
• pins
• scissors

1. Cut your fabric to the appropriate size. I use clothes that are similar in size to my desired outcome and I add extra fabric (room for error). To make this dress for Gemma, I used one of her skirts and measured her directly, I cut the fabric larger than I knew it needed to be because I wanted it to look gathered and I cut the sides at a slight angle to make it an a-line.

2. Cut the five dollar target t-shirt. For Gemma’s size (3t) I took roughly 3″ off the bottom of the shirt, the key is to cut it where you want the skirt to meet it.

3. Sew the edges together (right sides together) to create seams at the sides.

4. Wind elastic thread onto your bobbin, loosely, by hand. Keep regular thread on top!

5. Sew around the waist (right side in) you should see it magically start to gather. How cool is elastic thread?!?!?!

6. Insert your five dollar t-shirt (right side up) into your newly gathered skirt. Pin so that seams of shirt match seams of skirt, down the side.

7. Sew around the waist again the same way as step 5.

8. Carefully trim excess fabric around waist, turn right side out.

9. Try dress on your toddler and decide on final length. Pin and sew a finished bottom seam.

10. Create a simple sash. I made an asymmetrical one out of scrap material from the chevron maxi dress I made my sister.

toddler owl dress tutorial- amy+mayd

And there you have it!! A simple toddler dress using a five dollar target t-shirt. For more help with this project you can refer to a small snippet’s tutorial that I originally followed to make the adult version in my own maxi dress tutorial. Feel free to send in any questions or comments you may have.

What do you think??