Tutorial Tuesday: Upcycle an Outgrown Dress

I've always liked this dress.

It's made by Gymboree and I got it at a consignment store in Burbank. I liked it so much that even though it was a size 18-24 months, I bought it when McKenna was only 6 months old and it hung in her closet until she was ready to wear it. She wore it when it was too big and she wore it when it fit perfectly and she wore it when it was too small. It's become such a part of her growing up that just couldn't bear to part with it, so I decided to revamp it and eke out a few more years of use.

First, I cut off the top straight across under the armpits.

Next, I folded the waistline fabric over once, did a straight stitch all the way around, left a half-inch opening, and fed some elastic through.

Then I stitched the elastic ends together and stitched the opening closed. In less than 5 minutes, McKenna had a new skirt:

 Since I couldn't bear to let the rest of the dress go to waste, I cut off the sleeves.

 Then, just like I did for the skirt, I folded the fabric in, straight-stitched it down,

added elastic, stitched the ends together,

and made leg warmers.

Then I found a blank t-shirt in my kokoleo stash, whipped up this mushroom out of scrap fabric, and turned that toddler dress into a hip kid outfit.

Now I can watch her dance around in these mushrooms for a few more years.

It's versatile too, McKenna came up with this way of wearing it on her own:

 

That's the future creative director of kokoleo right there.