Upcycled T-shirt Dress

I came across this size medium Old Navy Shirt and and fell in love with the sleeves and mock slit down the front.  I have seen several really cute upcycled projects on pinterest and thought I would try my hand at it.  I was surprised at how quickly the plans for it came it along.  I had this dress finished in about 45 minutes and that included my time sitting and thinking of what to do next. Most sweater to dress tutorials I have found use the existing neck for the upcycled dress.  The neckline of this shirt was too large to do that, so I made ribbing to line the neck.

Before!

I placed a dress I knew fit my daughter and placed it over the shirt.  Since I am using the shirt hem, I do not have to leave a seam allowance at the bottom.  This shirt just did fit the length needed, so I cut across the arm seam of the shirt.

After cutting the top, I used the store bought dress to guide my armholes and tapper off the sides of the dress.  As narrow as this shirt was I probably could have gotten away with only cutting out the armholes.  I modeled the cutout after a peasant dress.  

Next, I cut the sleeves off the dress on the outside of the existing seam.  I then cut off the bottom part of the sleeves fit more snug.  This step also makes the dress easier to work with when putting in the sleeves.

Sew the sleeves to both the front and back of the dress with right sides together.  Repeat this step with the other sleeve.

Using the remaining fabric cut a strip the length of the shirt and about 2" wide.  This strip is going to be used as your ribbing for the collar.  Install ribbing around the neck of the dress.  To do this you will fold the ribbing wrong sides together and sew the rough edges of the ribbing to the rough edges of the collar.  You will stretch the ribbing as you go to help maintain body in the collar and give it some elasticity when putting the dress over the child's head.

The last step is to place the dress inside out and sew up the sides.  Start at the sleeve and stitch around the armpits and down the the end of the dress.  I used my serger to complete this step, but be careful around the sharp corners of the armpit.

In order to add some personal charm to the dress I added a flower at the top of the fake split in the shirt. To make the bow you will need a scrap of the shirt that is about 5" by 4."  I folded the bow with right sides together and stitched around the rectangle leaving a small opening tin the center of the bow.  Use this opening to turn the material right side out.  Don't worry about sewing up the opening in the bow.

Once the bow is turned right side out i folded the left and right ends of the bow together in the middle.  I used a zig zag stitch to hold the taps down in the center. 

I used a needle and thread to accordion style fold the bow and hold in place.  I cut a small portion of the ribbed cuffs and wrapped around the center of the bow sewing in place and then hand stitching to the front of the dress.   This dress was super easy to assemble and looked so cute on top of some black tights.  The lightweight material and the 3/4 sleeves allows this dress to be worn in both the summer and spring.   

Recycled Wreath

I have been motivated this week to recycle and repurpose items.  This project was started since my students are studying about recycling and I've been put in charge of center pieces for the May meeting of our local Board of Education.  I figured we could combine the two and create something unique.  While searching Pinterest I found this adorable wreath made from an old book and a styrofoam  wreath, but I could not find a single tutorial for this project.  It took awhile to perfect, but I think I figured it out. To make the project completely recycled I used an old cardboard box and a book I bought at a bookfair when I was in middle school.  

Materials Needed:

Cardboard  at least 12" by 12"

Used book (1-2)

Hot Glue, 5 sticks

Ribbon, 12"-14" 

I marked a center point in the cardboard and measured out around the point to create a circle. The first one I did had a 22" circumference and it was just too large, so I would suggest going with a 12-14" circumference.  The second wreath was a much more manageable size and only took one book versus two.

Next, I cut out the circle with about a 2" wide ream.  I hot glued a ribbon on the front so that it can be securely hung when it is finished.  

Before you get started you will have to tear each page out of your book.  If you are using older books like I did, be very careful since the pages are brittle and they will easily tear or rip.  I had to continue to pull back the binding glue on the book so that the pages would rip out easily.  Take the pages and do an accordion trifold to each. (See Below)

I put a dap of hot glue between each fold so that they would not come apart.  Then fold the button to create a tab and hot glue to the cardboard.  I started by going around the outside perimeter of the circle.

The next layer, I staggered the paper placement.  I also gave plenty of room and just made sure I covered the cardboard with the paper.  About  3/4 of an inch is between the two folds of the paper.  Since the circumference is smaller the paper may get off on the staggering.

The third layer I went on the inside of the wreath and glued it to the back of the cardbaord.  Make sure to crease the fold inside the wreath to give it dimension.

Here is what the wreath will look like with just the three layers.  

The last thing we will have to do is fill in the gaps between the inside layer and the other two.  I tried to be sure I staggered the layers and did some folded to the center and some to the outside.  This layer requires that you look at the overall look of the wreath to make placement decisions. 

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Here is the final product!  I was very pleased with it!  It took all of the pages from the book Jacob Have I Loved (my favorite book in middle school).  

This one is was my first go at it.  I placed the ruffles in a different directions and was not very pleased with the look.  It is much larger and took two books to complete.  I cut out a cardboard letter and colored it to complete the look.  Since I tore apart a book it was only fitting that I gave it to our media specialist.

I hope you enjoy making these as much as I have.  This weekend I found an old math text book from college and want to see if I can't make one with it for a math teacher.  I do think this would be the perfect end of the year gift for my kid's teachers!  Add rulers, pencils, etc. to it and it would be perfect!