Pleated Shirt Dress

All of you guys on FB like my girls' little Christmas Dresses? If you missed them here is Addisyn looking so sweet in hers

And Ms Natalie adored hers

Oh and don't forget it is a "twirly" dress. Nat found that out fast!

Wanna make one? They are easy and sooo cute!

First you will need a t-shirt(long or short sleeved will work) Mine was long but I cute the sleeves out

You want to measure the shirt across right under the arms,take that number and times it by three. For example Addisyns was 12in wide so I had 36in(don't worry if yours is more or less just use that math) I then measured her from her lower breast bone to below her knees, Go a little longer if you question it, you can always hem it later. Add 4 inches to that for seem allowance. Addisyns was 14inches long so I added four inches making it 18inches. Cut the fabric of your choice so mine was 36inches wide and 18inches long.

Sew both ends of the fabric together. If you have a printed fabric place the print sides together so when you flip it your prints are on the outside. Once you sew the ends together, trim the excess and use the zigzag stitch to help keep from fraying.

Next you are going to fold the top down 1/4in and pin around

Next fold that down another 1/4in and stitch all the way around

After you have stitched this fold down 1 1/2in and iron flat

Next you are going to make you pleats

Make sure they are even along the top

Make pleats all the way around the skirt. Make sure that the skirt is not to wide or too small to the shirt(look at the photo below) Stitch about 1 1/2in down from the top of the pleats all the way around. Addisyns I stitched too close to the top and Natalies I stitched about 2in down and it kept flopping so I had to make small stitches on the pleats to the shirt.

Now Cute the shirt you want to leave about 3 inches below where you plan to sew(hang on to the piece on of these days I'll teach you to make a skirt for your little girl with it!Once cut pin the skirt to the shirt all the way around

Sew along the same line you used to sew the pleats. Now time to make you sash. Mine was about 72inche long and 5inches wide. I had to sew two pieces of fabric together. So make a tube and sew. Turn it inside out. Place it on the front and line the top up with the stitch you just placed. Sew across that from side to side(not all the way around) Sew on the bottom of the sash from side to side also. Make sure the ends are even...clip if you need to then tuck in the ends and sew. Your almost done. Place on your little girl hem as needed!