How-to: Make a Dress From Two Shirts

dress upcycled from shirts
I wore this green t-shirt for ten years. No lie. I loved it. But it was time to let it go as the neckline was faded and discolored. I couldn’t donate a faded shirt so I’ve been saving it to upcycle it into something else.

Then, my son gave me his plaid shirt to sew a few buttons that were ripped. Ripped! Those college dorm washing machines!! While half listening to his explanation how it happened, I was designing a dress in my head, using both shirts. Yes, I’m sneaky.

This project is so simple. It only took me half an hour and that included taking the pictures. What’s great is this method can be used for girls too with their outgrown shirts!

Let’s make a dress!

You’ll need:

  • 1 T-shirt
  • 1 Button Down Shirt
  • Matching thread
  • Sewing Machine
  • Scissors

measure the neckline to cut

First, measure the neckline of the button-down shirt so you can cut the t-shirt’s neckline in the same length. Cut a straight line down the middle of the t-shirt, in the length that you want.

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12 thoughts on “How-to: Make a Dress From Two Shirts”

  1. Nice post! This is a nice way to save money on clothes. Thank you for the idea. I usually dye my shirts to give it a new look but after reading this, it gave me some idea on how I can recycle other types of clothing to make a new one.

  2. this is really cute, I can’t wait to try it. I am a little rusty when it comes to sewing so hopefully I will not mess it up to bad.

    1. Oh, I’m sure you’ll be fine. The beauty of this upcycling method is that you are using up shirts you loved and wore well. So turning them into something else means you are giving them a second chance at life. I used these shirts to demonstrate the ‘concept’ so I’m sure your dress will turn out pretty because you will be using shirts that you treasure. 🙂

  3. I am always looking for patternless ways to redo clothes.  I have a family of men and this is perfect for those lightly spotted shirts in places where they won’t wear them anymore!!!

    1. Sofine,
      You are right. Clothes show so much better on a person. I couldn’t take a self portrait of me wearing the dress when I was done so I had to resort to the mannequin. But, also, I’m sure you have better looking shirts to use than these and they would look totally different. I was just showing the concept. 🙂

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