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How to Make a Muumuu into a Dress

'80s Dress to One Shoulder Dress Refashion
Men's Pants to Avant-Garde Skirt Refashion

I loooove muumuus! Living in South Carolina means you have to prepare yourself (mentally and physically) for extreme heat and humidity.

Since muumuus are just about always made from soft lightweight fabrics, they’re perfect for our hot climate. And the bright splashy prints they typically contain? That’s just an added bonus!

refashionista How to make a muumuu into a dress before
(my attempt at a curtsy)

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I haven’t found many muumuus while thrifting lately, so I was pleasantly surprised to see this one made its way to the $1 clearance rack!

refashionista How to make a muumuu into a dress before 2
Putting out some serious Mrs. Roper vibes.

In case you’re wondering, that stuff at my feet isn’t dirt (I clean my porch…I promise!). It’s POLLEN.

close up of pollen on porch
aka South Carolina snow

This is another thing one gets used to while living in Columbia SC. In a couple of weeks it (and my crazy allergies) should be (mostly) gone.

The print on this particular muumuu is fabulous. It also has a couple of nice embroidered details I love.

closeup of embroidery on muumuu
Aren’t they nice?

Unfortunately, I couldn’t go out in public in it as-is, regardless of how comfy I would be.

Here’s how to turn a muumuu into a day dress!

Unless you just want to wear a muumuu as a muumuu. in that case, youyou do youyou! 😉

First, I cut off the sleeves, leaving about 1/2″ of the original sleeves attached.

Normally, I take the time to remove the sleeves completely with my seam ripper, but I was in a hurry.

cutting sleeves off muumuu
Snnnip!

Cutting off the sleeves, rather than removing them completely saves a good bit of time, but the inside of the arm hole won’t look as nice when you’re done stitching it down.

Since no one is going to be looking at the inside of my dress except me, I went ahead and took this shortcut.

removed muuumuu sleeves
You are no longer needed.

I folded that leftover bit under and secured it with my magical amazing sewing clips. You could also use pins for this, but clips are much easier.

clipping fabric on arm hole under
Just like this!

Then, I stitched the fabric under.

sewing armhole on dress
Easy!

I wanted to make sure that extra fabric on the inside wouldn’t flop out while I was wearing my dress, so I added a second layer of stitching next to the first one.

adding second layer of stitching
Can’t be too careful!

Now that my arm holes were done, it was time to get my future dress fitted!

I put my muumuu on my dress form and pinned the sides.

measuring side of dress
Measure each side as you go to keep them even!

I had to be careful about how much I took my muumuu in, since there are no closures on the dress. A good rule of thumb is, if it comes on and off the dress form easily, it will come on and off you easily too!

When I was done pinning, my muumuu looked like this:

muumuu pinned on dress form
So far, so good!

I ran each side of my muumuu through my machine and stitched my new side seams down.

sewing new side seam
Whirrrrrr!

Then I cut off the leftover fabric from each side.

cutting off excess fabric
Just a lil chop!

I decided I didn’t like the length as-is, so I made a chop along the bottom as well.

cutting off bottom of muumuu
The final chop!

I folded that bottom raw edge under twice about 1/4″ and secured it with my sewing clips.

clipping bottom hem
These lil guys save me SO much time!

Then, I sewed my new hem down!

sewing bottom hem on muumuu
The final whirrrrr!

To complete my muumuu-to-dress refashion, I pressed my new seams and hem, being careful of the heat setting.

ironing seam
I usually test the heat on a leftover scrap if I have one available!

I really really love my bright & happy new muumuu dress!

refashionista How to Make a Muumuu into a Dress after
Cute, innit?

I even managed to find a mural that complemented the colors of my new frock!

refashionista How to Make a Muumuu into a Dress after 2
I do what I can

I styled my new dress with a few thrifted accessories and a fave pair of square blue sunnies then headed off for a couple of afternoon beers with the Mr.!

refashionista How to Make a Muumuu into a Dress selfie
Hopefully I won’t accidentally leave them somewhere like I do with all the others…

Of course, Mr. Refashionista is the best accessory of all!

Mr. Refashionista laughing
Cutie!
Mr. Refashionista being coy
Let the camera do the work!

I hope if you find a muumuu in your thrifting adventures you’ll give it second look!

refashionista How to Make a Muumuu into a Dress after 3
SC heat will be no match for me this summer!

It just might end up being your favorite warm weather dress!

refashionista How to Make a Muumuu into a Dress after 4
What. am. I. doing.

Cheers!

refashionista How to Make a Muumuu into a Dress before and after
'80s Dress to One Shoulder Dress Refashion
Men's Pants to Avant-Garde Skirt Refashion