How to Make a Dress Out of a T-Shirt Without Sewing or Using Glue

Tools and materials:

• Oversized t-shirt
• Scissors 
• Safety pins

Do make sure that the t-shirt you’re using is long enough that you will be comfortable wearing it as a dress. And the length will in fact reduce by about an inch or two. 

1. Pin the t-shirt

Using the safety pins, mark out roughly where you want the waist to sit. I want it to be oversized at the top with a bat wing effect on the sleeves, and then I want it to cinch in at my waist.

Find the two seams of the t-shirt and ensure that when you’re pinning, it is equal and you are taking in the same amount of material on either side.

The other option is finding a bodycon dress you like, laying it on top of the t-shirt, and tracing around it. Now what you want to do is take the dress off, and we're going to do the rest on the floor.

2. Cut open the seams

Now lay out your t-shirt, and if your safety pins went through to the other side and it's bunching, just remove the pin from the other side of the t-shirt.

Everything we're going to do to one side will cut through to the other. Cut open the seams of the t-shirt up until around an inch below the point where you want the top to remain loose.

3. Cut the t-shirt

Make sure your t-shirt is laid out nice and flat because now you're going to be cutting through both sides. Cut from the top of where the seam is open, and cut little strips inwards through both layers of the t-shirt until the point where your safety pin is.

You can do the hourglass shape if you want, or you can do it all the same. I’m cutting my strips about two centimeters (0.8 inches) in width. When you’ve done this on one side, replicate it on the other side and try to cut the exact same number of strips.

Once done, it will look like this.

4. Pull the strips

Next, pull on the strips, and they will roll up a little bit. When done, you can remove your safety pins as they were just there for guidance.

5. Tie the strips together

Next, take the two strips at the top and tie them in a double knot to make sure it's nice and tight. Then do that on the other side as well. Proceed to move your tied knots out the way and work your way down either side of the t-shirt, knotting the strips together.

Be careful not to tie the knots too tight otherwise, the finished dress might be too small for you. On the other hand, if the knots are too loose, the dress will be gaping open on the sides.

No-sew dress tutorial

Here is the finished dress; I can’t even express how happy I am with it. The final product far exceeds my expectations. The shape of the dress is very tailored and flattering, and the knots down either side look like little bows with a sort of corset effect.

Because it’s made from a cotton t-shirt, the bodycon dress is really stretchy and comfortable to wear. I hope you’ll give this DIY a go for yourself!