Shirt to cardigan + dress resizing

Cardigan from a shirt refashion

My husband is gone at church meetings Sunday mornings so I'm left alone to get our 4 kids ready. It's not too big of a deal, but I had gotten used to my husband ironing all their clothes for me.

Now I try to get all of our clothes out and ready Saturday evening so Sunday mornings aren't quite so hectic. It's nice to start the day off with peaceful music and happy kids. 

As I got around to picking out my clothes I couldn't find anything I felt like wearing. I found a dress I bought at a consignment store months ago. It was a couple sizes too big but it was cheap and had potential.  

I sized it down (pictures below) then decided it would look cuter with a black cardigan. I lost mine last time I went to Arizona and haven't replaced it yet. But when I've got my mind set on something I don't give up easily. I started digging through my box of extra clothes looking for an old sweater I rarely wear. I guess I'd given it away cause I couldn't find it. But I did come across this plain black long-sleeve t-shirt. Perfect!

 I laid it out flat...

 Got out my scissors...

 Cut it up the middle...

And hemmed the raw edges.

Done- I turned a shirt I never wear into a cardigan in 3 minutes!

I've done this to several other shirts and sweaters. It works best on shirts that are slightly too small. Sometimes I add a ruffled edge or some fabric flowers and beads to embellish the cardigan, but this one I wanted to keep simple so I could wear with more types of clothes. Some types of fabric don't look good when you sew a hem. In those cases either cover up the hem with embellishments (ruffles, ribbon, coordinating fabric, etc) or use iron-on adhesive to finish off the raw edges.

Dress resizing

Now for the dress, I just did a super simple alteration on it. I've probably made a similar adjustment on 3/4 of my wardrobe.

Start with an over-sized dress (or skirt of shirt)

Put it on inside out.

 Pinch the excess fabric along side seams and pull away from your body.

 Pin along down the side seam keeping equal amounts of fabric on each side of the original seam. 

 Carefully take off the dress without getting poked or letting any of the pins fall out. Keep it inside out.  

 Sew along pin line. Make sure you make gradual lines so your new seam blends in nicely. 

Try your dress on right side out, and if you like the way it fits turn it back inside out and cut the excess fabric so you won't have any extra bulging.

I wore it with a DIY slip extender that I'll post a tutorial about later and a cute bow belt I found at Burlington Coat factory for $0.50!

So with 20 minutes, a sewing machine and a little creativity I had my new church outfit all ready to go for the next day!