Another RePurpose: Woman's Shirt to Girl's Dress

I guess I'm on a summer re-purposing trend here.  The story behind this repurpose is I purchased this shirt for myself at Costco for $12.00.  It looked so nice on the table!  

Unfortunately not so much on me (boy I wish Costco had dressing rooms!).  Anyway, I decided the time and cost of driving back to the store to return it just wasn't worth the $12, so instead I thought I'd make it into a dress for my youngest daughter.

It turned out that the length was perfect dress-length for her.  I just needed to find a way to make the top fit....as you can see, the neckline and arm holes are WAY too big for a 3/4 year old.

I started out by clipping the front of the sleeves.

 Next, I cut the back of the shirt just below the keyhole which would make the armholes smaller and eliminate the challenge of dealing with that hole.  (Keep it simple, right?)

Now, I needed to find a way to make the top of this dress more fitted to a child.  Guess what I did.....yep.....SHIRRED it!  

First, I created a clean hem by serging, then folding over the raw edge about 1/4" and sewing it in place.

Then I shirred the back.  I ended up shirring about 3".

Next I attached the front sleeves to the back by matching up the armholes.  And finally, I re-hemmed the inside side hems taking about an inch off each side so it wouldn't be so big.

Final Result:

 A lovely one-of-a-kind summer dress for $12.00 (and a little time)!!

Next time you are ready to get rid of something, think twice before you do....let your creative self take over!