How to Make a Cute Santa Claus Dress Out of an XL Men's Xmas T-Shirt

Looking for a festive holiday costume? Here’s how to make a Santa Claus dress from an XL men’s t-shirt with a Santa design. You can buy these shirts at mass retailers like Walmart.
How much fun would it be to wear a Santa Claus dress like this to a holiday party? Here’s how to make a DIY Santa dress in under an hour.
To see how to make a Christmas t-shirt into a romper instead, see my other tutorial on making a DIY elf costume.
Tools and materials:
- Extra-large men’s holiday t-shirt with a Santa design
- Scissors
- Sewing machine
- Marking or tailor’s chalk
- Pins
- Well-fitting dress of your own to serve as a template
1. Make the pattern
Lay the men’s t-shirt on a flat surface with the design facing up.
Lay your own well-fitting dress on top to serve as a template. Make sure to keep as much of the holiday design.
If your template dress is very sexy and stretchy, add a generous amount of seam allowance - more than one inch - because these t-shirts do not usually stretch very much.
Pin the dress to the shirt and mark the cut lines. There’s no need to mark both sides as you can use one cut side as a pattern.
2. Cut the pattern
Pin the front to the back of the shirt on all sides so the fabric doesn’t move when you begin cutting. Start cutting at the sleeve but just on one side.
Then, fold the t-shirt in half lengthwise and cut the other side. It’s hard to see the design when it’s folded inward, so you may want to flip it the other way when cutting to line up the design perfectly.
3. Sew the Santa dress
Once both sides are cut, unfold up the dress. Now, flip the shirt so the right sides are touching.
Start sewing the sleeves with a zigzag stitch on the inside seam. Backstitch right at the sleeve edge when you start and then zigzag all the seams.
Then, sew a straight stitch along the line of the zigzag stitch for extra security when wearing!
How to make a Santa Claus dress
Here’s the finished product! How joyful, celebratory, and fun is this DIY Christmas Santa dress? Please let me know in the comments if you made this Santa dress and better yet, share your photos! Merry Christmas!
Enjoyed the project?
Suggested materials:
- Extra-large men’s holiday t-shirt with a Santa design
- Scissors
- Sewing machine
- Marking or tailor’s chalk
- Pins
- Well-fitting dress of your own to serve as a template
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Oh I love this..so darn cute..if your the type of couple he could wear one in his sz when you both go to family gathering …