Upcycle a Men’s Shirt Into This Amazing Shirt Dress

Tools and Materials:

• Two men’s shirts
• Sewing machine
• Scissors
• Pins

Before we get started, I wanted to talk a little bit about the shirts I would use in this amazing upcycle! First I chose a plain blue men’s shirt to become my shirt dress. I love an oversized look and this shirt is definitely oversized! Next, I chose this blue striped shirt to use for the added details on my dress. I thought it would be a great contrast and add so much to the look! 

I started by measuring how long I wanted the shirt dress to be. I knew I definitely wanted to have gorgeous deep slits on the sides so I thought I’d make it a bit longer rather than shorter. 

Next, I thought about where I would want to add in the extra material. I decided I would just add a stripe in the middle but you can definitely add it onto the bottom as well! 

In this step, I used a ruler to draw a straight line under my pins and the cut across that line. A great tip when working with shirts is to make sure you cut in the middle of two buttons and not to close to a button. 

Next, I marked 11 inches on my striped shirt. I cut across my markings and had a gorgeous strip of fabric ready. 

I placed the striped piece over the other fabric, right sides together and I clipped the edges. 

I purposefully didn’t clip the side seams together in case they didn't match up. It’s important to take in whichever side seam is bigger and get it to the size of the smaller seam. 

I then sewed the clipped edges together. I repeated the step on the second half of the shirt and made sure to surge the bottom and the inside where I had previously sewed. This gives the shirt a perfect finish and prevents any fraying! 

I just adore how this dress looks so far! I tried it on to make sure I was happy with the length and also checked that all the buttons lined up. 

I then added a top stitch over the regular blue shirt to hold things in place and keep everything neat and secure. 

I tried my shirt dress on again and pinned exactly where I wanted the slit to go up until. I used a seam ripper to create the perfect slit on this adorable dress. 

I then folded the back edge of my slit and sewed it down. 

On the other side of the slit, I cut from the slit to the front of the shirt at a curve. I then double folded the bottom, raw edge and sewed a rolled hem. 

I am so in love with this baggy shirt dress! Where would you add the extra material? Let me know in the comments below!