Wardrobe Upcycle: Knit T-shirt Maxi Dress Makeover DIY

I’m the kind of girl who fills up my closet with staples: article of clothing that are timeless, and can be worn through several seasons. I sometimes pluck out things that I wish to fix or rather, take apart and make anew. This maxi dress has been in my closet for years and years and sadly, it has gone out of style so I never wear it anymore. I love the print, and the fact that it is knit and has pockets. But, I hated the top. It made me feel like a prepubescent girl with the way it fit across my chest. But, I never gave up on it. Then, the day came where I decided that I was gonna wear it again.

I originally wanted to remake it as a skirt, but then I came across a t-shirt of mine that shrunk a little too much. It was one of those t-shirts that I constantly needed to pull down, but it still looked flattering across the bust. I believe that they were both purchased from Target many seasons ago. I thought I would share how I did it, and maybe inspire my readers to find their own up-cycle project their wardrobe.

Here is the original dress, before it was cut at the empire waist:

As you can see, there was some shirring in the back of this empire dress, making it fit tightly across the bust. I cut the top clean off, preserving the pockets and length.

Then, I pinned the bottom of the shirt to the top of the skirt. Now, I just eyeballed this, which is either really professional or just plain lazy. I knew that this would be something that I was gonna put a belt over, and stretching the shirt to the skirt may cause puckering in the seam. I just opted to form pleats with the excess bulk of the skirt in random spots around the top.

I first used my overlock machine to serge the two layers together, double checking that the pockets were facing the right direction. I also took this time to trim off the rather choppy bits from the skirt.