Men's Button-down Shirt to Toddler Dress

I did this project a few weeks back, but the weather has been so contradictory since then that I haven't had the chance to do a photo shoot. But, we've finally had some pretty days around here, so here goes! (Sorry in advance for the lack of decent pictures. I didn't take proper photos as I was working.)
 

The Men's Shirt to Toddler Dress. Who doesn't have a few men's button-down shirts laying around just waiting for a project? Personally I've got quite a few due to random rips or stains that relegated them to the scrap bin. And I've got a daughter growing taller every day with spring coming on, so time for some new dresses!

There are lots of great tutorials out there for these and many different variations. Due to the nature of the yellow linen shirt I was working with mine had to be modified to fit around some rips, but seeing as there's so much fabric to be had in an XL men's shirt, I had no problem making it work.

 

For the main body of the dress I cut off the bottom half of the shirt and gathered it. Since I wanted to use the buttons in the final design in the back of the dress, I also cut a piece from the upper half of the shirt the width of the bodice (chest measurement divided by 2 plus an inch or so for seams and ease of movement).

I sewed the front and back pieces together at the sides and attached the gathered skirt. One more folded strip of fabric provided a top hem for the bodice. And two wide strips of fabric were folded and sewn up the long half, turned right side out, and attached at the top for straps.

My girl loves pockets and it seemed a shame to let the one on the original shirt go to waste, so I removed it from the remaining shirt and stitched it in place at the front of the skirt.

 

 

I think it's a hit!