Est. 2010
How to Upcycle a Men’s Shirt into a Dress
When I bought this rather large men’s shirt (size 4XL) at the dollar-a-pound Goodwill, I had no idea what I would end up doing with it.
I figured it was worth buying just for the fabric.
This shirt sat in my “before” pile for about a week before I came up with an idea of how to use it.
I finally decided to upcycle this men’s shirt into a cute shirt dress!
I’ve been seeing/coveting them in stores lately, so why not?
First, I used my seam ripper to remove the breast pocket and put it aside.
I couldn’t keep it where it was, as a seam would end up going through it. Don’t worry! It’s coming back later, I promise!
Now, I had to begin the taking-in part.
I put the shirt on inside-out and pinned it at my underarms (where the new sleeves would start), bust, waist, and hips.
When taking something like this in, keep your estimates conservative. You can always go back and tweak it more, but it’s much harder to add fabric back on once it’s cut!
I took the shirt off and marked in chalk where the pins were, using my measuring tape to keep each side even.
Then, I drew a chalk line between the points to give me a better idea of the shape.
I pinned along each side directly on the chalk line, being careful to keep the fabric smooth.
Next, I carefully ran each side under my machine, making sure the fabric didn’t bunch up, which it realllllly wanted to!
I used my pinking shears to trim off that excess material.
I tried my shirt/dress on and discovered it was still a bit too big up top for me.
I put it back on and pinned the arms, bust, and waist a tad more to give it a curvier shape, ran it through my machine, and cut off the excess material again.
No biggie!
Remember that sad, neglected pocket? I pinned it near the bottom of my new dress.
I love pockets, and would hate to see this one go!
I used a contrasting maroon thread to sew it on.
Now…my new dress was fitting much nicer, and was made even better with its new pocket.
However, I wanted a nice sash to cinch my waist, and give my new safari-style dress a bit of flair.
Luckily, I had plenty of leftover material from the sides of the original shirt.
Now, I had one, long strip of fabric.
There was one more issue to deal with.
The bottom of the front placket needed to be secured below the bottom button.
In its previous life as a shirt, this would have been the part that was tucked in to some guys trousers (ewwwwwwww!!!!!!! I literally just thought about this!!!!).
I pressed my new seams, and my men’s shirt to women’s dress upcycle was all done!
Oh, and check out my cute pocket square!
I used a scrap from my most recent refashion. I thought it tied in the contrast stitching and my burgundy brogues quite nicely!
I patted myself on the back further for creating my own version of a similar dress by Michael Kors that sells for $130.
Cheers!
How to Upcycle a Men’s Shirt into a Dress
Looking for ideas of how to Upcycle a Men’s Shirt into a Dress? Look no further! In this easy upcycle tutorial you’ll learn how to sew an oversized men’s shirt into a cute dress.
Materials
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13 Comments
Yasmin Allen
The dress looks better than I expected, and better than the $130 version!
thriftykitties
I just got a huge men’s shirt at the Goodwill Outlet last week and I can’t wait to try this!
Sarah Marie
This is SO amazing! I love your blog– what you do is really inspiring!! Thanks for all these great ideas. I’ve just gotten back into sewing and can’t wait to try some refashioning, too.
Sami V
I am in love with your blog!! You have a new follower. I just started refashioning old tops recently…I adopted them from my sister who wears a bigger size. They were ooh so cute but needed a little taking in. I know a bit about sewing, but mostly crafts and kid outfits. So i just kinda winged it and it turned out great! I’m so encouraged by all your refashions and I might have to check out the thrift stores more often. You have given me the confidence to forge ahead with my tossed aside projects! Also thanks so much for giving me the name and purpose for the sewing gauge thing (previously called sharp-weird-ruler-that-has-a-strange-and-alien-purpose-and-sits unused-in-my-sewing-drawer). Keep up the awesome work!!!!!!
outerbankshouseseller
I **adore** this one! <3
Jennifer Custer Yaple
This is adorable. I love the sash, but another thing you could do is
wrap a necktie around your waist for a sash. So cute! 🙂
Annie
Your dress is WAY cuter than the expensive one.
Erica Louise
Oh this is excellent, I really like it, you know what I thought you could also do, is to sew a pocket in a different patterned fabric, perhaps a vintage fabric, and have a belt to match 🙂
Catherine
Fantastic! Just need to find me a huuuuge shirt! But it has given me some ‘how tos’ with regards an extremely huuuge muumuu my mum has given me to makeover!!! Thanks!
Flasun
Excellent job! You just inspired me to re-fashion an oversized shirt.
toojilly
Awesome! Do it! And send me a pic, please! 🙂
Terri Komer
I think it’s awesome! It looks great but it also looks real comfy too. Good job.
GypsyBiscuit
Looks great! I admit I was a bit skeptical at first, but you did it. Keep it up!
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