i finally finished mackenzie's birthday dress. a little late for her birthday, but hey, we don't mind. this dress is repurposed or upcycled if you will, from one of my hubby's dress shirts. this time, instead of using the button panel for the front of the dress (see previous post here and here), i reversed it. when dreaming up how i wanted the dress to look, i fell head over heels for the pleat in the back of his shirt and knew right then and there that i wanted a little empire dress with cap sleeves. the rest came to life from that moment.

i originally had envisioned a boat neckline, and had sewed it that way. unfortunately, my little one was too small to keep it on her little shoulders - bad measuring on my part, so i waited it out for the solution to come to me. at first i tried adding the adorable yellow button to the cap sleeve to take it in a bit, but no luck. finally, last night while watching the worst made for tv movie ever (they seem to bring me inspiration) i decided to add another layer to the neckline and put in an elastic casing to just close things up. it did the trick!

the flower applique is amy butler and i just couldn't resist adding that little yellow button to the center of the flower and to the hook on the front pleat of the dress. to finish things off i sewed in a dainty, yellow ribbon to add a bit of colour to the back of the dress. perfect for summer, light and airy - she loves it and looks adorable in it. bonus for me is it's one less stained shirt in the donation pile :)

if you haven't tried one of these men's shirt transformations yet give it a whirl. they are loads of fun and super addicting. if anyone is wondering where to find a tutorial for one of these dresses, go check out dana's at made. if you are interested in a tutorial for this one, let me know, i just may be able to whip something up even with my newbie sewing skills to help you along.

have you made one yet?