BEFORE

Learn how to refashion this outdated embroidered dress into a cute dress in this upcycle tutorial

I bought this dress brand new but it was from a clearance section and they only had one left and it wasn’t in my size. I absolutely love embroidered clothes because as a seamstress, I appreciate the extra details and the TLC that goes into the clothing since I know how long that must have taken to embroider. So I snatched it without a second thought and then completely forgot about it. But last week as I was organizing my sewing room, I came upon this dress and got so excited! Refashioning outdated or ill-fitting clothes into new feels just like when you buy a new clothing item you love, but even better! Because you have that sense of accomplishment and pride into your finished art piece.

Watch the video tutorial below or keep scrolling to see a picture tutorial.

Tutorial:

Fold the end over and sew all the way down the strip. Then use a safety pin to flip it inside out, hem the ends and you are done!

BEFORE/AFTER

I only had one hour to complete this refashion in order to take photos of the transformation before the sun went down. like this shoot that happened in front of my garage, taken by no other photographer than my 10 year old daughter that I bribed and paid $3 to. What can I say, I am all about that fancy life!

AFTER

Estimated time: 45 mins.-1 hour

Budget: $10

Skill level: Confident beginner

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Make sure to follow along on Instagram at @sarahtyau to get sneak peeks and behind the scenes!

This tutorial will be up on my YouTube channel soon, make sure you’re subscribed to be notified!

Men’s Shirt to Dress Transformation

Make this fall style flannel dress from a large men’s shirt in this DIY transformation.

This DIY was created on behalf of JOANN, all thoughts, ideas and writing are my own.

I’ve had this flannel men’s shirt in my to-sew stash for awhile now. I had initially planned on using this, along with two other flannel men’s shirts and combine it to make a dress for me, but my daughter really liked this fabric and how soft it felt, and asked me if I could make something for her. She’s now almost too tall for me to make a dress for her out of a men’s shirt so I was a little nervous it would be too short for her but the length turned out to be perfect! I probably only have about a year left to be able to make dresses for her from a men’s shirt so I should do a lot more of men’s shirt refashions, don’t you think?

If you want to make one just like this but can’t find a men’s shirt in this fabric, JOANN has this exact flannel fabric in white buffalo check and other great selections of flannel fabrics in a variety of patterns.

So let’s get this tutorial started! Watch the video or scroll down for written instructions.

Supplies

Men’s shirt or 1 yard of flannel fabric

sewing machine

scissors

thread

seam ripper

7 buttons

hand needle 

BEFORE

Instructions

1. Lay out the shirt on a flat surface. Smooth out any wrinkles or folds and make sure the front and the back are aligned.

2. Cut the bodice and the skirt of the dress. Using a seam ripper, take the pocket off.

3. Cut a smaller size sleeves out of the original sleeves.

4. It will look like this.

5. Now that we have the bodice, skirt and the sleeves, we are ready to sew!

6. Using stitch length 5, sew all the way around the tip of the skirt.

7. Gather the skirt by pulling one side of the thread.

8. Sew the skirt and the sleeves back onto the bodice and hem the edge of the sleeves and the neckline.

Then you are finished!

BEFORE/AFTER

Estimated time: 1.5 hours

Budget: $5

Skill level: A confident beginner

If you post a project on your Instagram that’s inspired by my tutorials,

tag me at @sarahtyau in the captions and the photo on Instagram to be featured on my Instagram stories!

Pin me, share me, I like to get around!

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