Tunic to baby dress refashion

After knitting a luxurious cashmere Maile sweater for Lissy, I needed to find a simple, cream colored dress. My fingers kept returning to this shirt that has been hanging, unworn, in my closet for about 7 months. It was a favorite while I was preggo, but now (thankfully) too big. So, not wanting to spend any money, while at the same time needing to rid my closet of a few things, I set to work.  Now, if I had the chance to do this over, I would have been a little smarter and added things like a zipper that make getting a squirmy 7 month old dressed. But as it is, it’s cute and will fit for a little while.

I started with this, size XL Old Navy tunic-style cotton top. I really liked the detail around the collar.

I used this cute little number as a sizing guide since I can’t do projects like this when the girl is awake…

Next, I started cutting. I really didn’t know what I was doing (refashion virgin here!). I just figured I needed a top and a bottom of the dress. I knew I wanted to add the collar detail. I used the middle section as the bodice and the bottom section as the skirt.

 

Since Lissy is still petite, I was able to double the fabric for the bodice, making it less transparent (we don’t want to see any baby boobies!). I kept the detail at the center.

Then, I stopped taking pictures. Sorry folks! I’m new at this!

But basically, I took the bottom portion of the shirt and used a gathering stitch around the top. I kept the existing hem to save me some time. I matched the gathers to the length of the bodice, pinned and stitched. Then I added some straps and, VOILA!

Instant baby dress! (And it even fit!)

It looks really great under her sweater. See?

Katie