Turn your too-short dresses into wearable shirts
May 13, 2011 by Elaine
Long time ago I bought two short-sleeve t-shirt dresses at The Gap for pennies: this orange one and this blue one. They ended above my knees but I was convinced if I stretched them enough, they would reach and I could wear them modestly and wonderfully. Case in point: they didn’t…but I wore them anyway. Then I noticed they would shrink a little after each wash…and with these already-short-dresses, I couldn’t risk having them shorter! So I never washed them again. Kidding. That’s gross.
Instead, I took a pair of scissors and cut the bottoms right off! Well, I tried one on and made sure I knew where I wanted the shirt to end. And then I marked it with a pin and carefully slipped the shirt off over my head and THEN I took my scissors and cut the bottoms right off! Now I have two “brand new” t-shirts that are perfect and acceptable in my closet.
If you have any dresses that are just a little too short for comfort, turn it into a shirt instead! I didn’t hem my shirts because they’re both made of a stretchy jersey fabric that rolls up a little at the bottom and I liked it raw and crazy like that! What can I say? I’m a wild one. If you have a sewing machine, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to hem your shirts after you cut them. But don’t forget to cut the bottom a little longer so you have extra fabric left over to hem! If you don’t have a sewing machine, check out hem tape!
For more of Elaine’s fashion visit Clothed Much.
updates and free printables delivered straight to your inbox!
This is a great idea! I have a too-short dress that is ready to be worn as a shirt…
oh how fun to see my dear friend Elaine get featured on HowDoesShe! She rocks
I had this exact problem with a maternity dress I got at Old Navy when I was pregnant! I wore it to church once & spent all 3 hours yanking it down; after washing it, it was even more hopeless! So it just went into my maternity clothes bin after one wearing. I wish I’d seen this back then! The next time I’m preggo I’ll definitely pull that dress out & cut it off for a shirt. Brilliant! I’m totally following your blog now. I hope you love LA; that’s where I grew up!
Bah! I JUST got rid of the cutest dress because it was too short! I totally could have made a shirt from it!!
And I’m a crafty sewer! I should have thought of that!
Great idea! But in her case, according to these pictures, I didn’t think the dresses were too short!
Brilliant I say, Brilliant!
I never would have thought of that – thanks!
love it- i def have some too short dresses, that are jersey too!
Great idea! I love how you paired it with the jackets!
I picked up some American Eagle sun dresses at down east last spring and I knew instantly they were too short to wear. So I did just the opposite of you. I cut off the tops and turned them into skirts. All my sisters and sisters in law loved them so much they all went and got some and did the same! I did hem the tops of my skirts but my little sisters didn’t and theirs look just as great!
Great idea, thanks!
I’ve done this with 2 too-short dresses! I get comments on my shirts every time I wear them too! I also take some of the extra fabric from the bottom of the skirt and make headbands out of them to wear with my shirts. I love headbands!
I had nightgowns, short ones, that got too short, so I cut them off for p j tops, works great!!
same problem here. but instead of cutting it, i wear it with dark tights/leggings. i didn’t modify anything of it as i really like it just like it is, but now i’m not showing too much of skin.
I hope you can help! I have this shirt/dress thing that I love! It’s a bit too long to be comfortable as a shirt but way too short to even dare to wear as a dress, but I love it! It has a color pattern where it starts purple and fades to green. It also sinches right under the bust. I want to make it shorter by removing fabric from the middle so I don’t take away from the green on the bottom. Any suggestions for this? My sewing skills are pretty basic so anything to make this easier or possible would be great!