How To Make A Girls Playdress

Upcycle an old shirt with a yard of fabric to make a little girl a playdress perfect for spring and summer.

This week I show you how to make a girls playdress by upcycling an old shirt and simply adding it to a yard of fabric. Beauty #4’s favorite thing to wear right now is play dresses. They’re comfortable and pretty. They allow for natural air conditioning while playing out in the hot, summer sun. And they allow for maximum movement and comfort.

Perfect Time to Clean Out Stuff

At the current time of writing this post, the world is experiencing a pandemic. We’re living in cray-cray ville for sure.

Truth be told: I’m SO loving all the extra time. At home. Intentional living. Time well-spent with each other. It’s been extremely beneficial for our family. We already homeschooled. But, I mean really … a mass exodus of government education (because let’s get an honest wake-up call, people: that’s what it is!) and kids being “stuck” at home to get their education from their parents?! Genius! How do YOU want your kids influenced, indoctrinated? Anyway—rabbit trail!

All that to say … I was cleaning out my fabric box to find something to make a mask, and found some beautiful fabrics and projects that needed my attention. And now I have all the time in the world to do it. Well, it would seem so anyway. 😉

Sourcing Materials

This can be as simple as rummaging through the closet for old shirts that might simply not get used as much for whatever reason, or perhaps may be getting a little too short.

Thrifting “new-to-you” shirts is our personal fave. Hand-me-downs from siblings. Gently used items from neighbors and family. There’s a lot of different resources out there!

Whenever I’m at the fabric store, I love to look through the clearance aisles and bins. You never know when you’ll come across a yard or two of the cutest cotton fabric.

Thrift stores are excellent for finding unused fabric! If you’re lucky, you can even find vintage style fabrics.

I’ve even found brand new t-shirts at the Dollar Tree! Like these red and white Ts. And look at that coordinating fabric! These were just stashed away in my fabric bins up in the attic. I forgot that I purchased these years ago with the honest intentions of making sweet dresses for Beauties 2-4. Now these will only fit Beauty #4 if I’m lucky. Maybe Beauty #3. We’ll see.

Essential Materials You May Need to Make a Girls Playdress

• a shirt, either old, handed down, thrifted, etc.
• a yard of fabric, depending on height of girl (I used a yard for my size 12 girl who is about 4’7″
• sewing machine
• scissors – mom’s ‘do not touch!’ scissors 😉
• pins
• iron

Video Tutorial How To Make a Girls Playdress

Instructions How To Make a Girls Playdress

1. Find the radius to cut from the center of the fabric that will become the skirt. I wanted to use the whole yard of material I had. So I used the same method I used in my How To Sew Camp Poncho For Kids. You can click over to that tutorial for step by step math. But basically I measured Beauty #4’s waist, divided that circumference by 3.14, and divided that answer by 2 to find the radius. For my little girl that wears about a size 12, I ended up with the number 6.
2. Fold the yard of fabric evenly into fourths. At the center of the fabric at the folds, measure the radius you came up with from the waist measurement. For my daughter it’s 6 inches across and 6 inches down. I also measured 6 inches from the corner out towards the middle of the fabric and made a snip. Cut along a curve from top to bottom (I eyeballed it as seen in video).
3. Pin the shirt to the skirt fabric, right sides together. Line up the sides of the shirt to the skirt where you want the sides of the skirt to lay.
4. Sew the shirt to the skirt bottom using a 1/2″ or 3/8″ seam, whichever you prefer. I use the guide on my machine to get a nice straight seam.
5. Iron a 1/2″ hem all around the bottom edge of fabric. Turn under again and iron to hide raw edge. Stitch hem in place close to edge.

You did it! You made a new dress for your little one to play and romp around all spring and summer long. The ultimate repurpose, upcycle. And it took next to no time. Your little girl will think you’re the Mom Bomb.

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Other projects that may interest you

Check out some of my other simple handmade projects! Find them all HERE.

How To Make A Bed Skirt From Drop Cloth

DIY Washable Protective Mask | Guest Post Redeeming Vitality

T-Shirt Dress For Girls | Simple Sewing

How To Knit A Farmhouse Dishcloth

What Will You Repurpose?

I hope this simple tutorial has got your creative juices flowing and frugal wheels turning! Next time you’re cleaning out your little girl’s closet, explore the possibilities of a whole new set of play dresses. She’ll feel like a princess and think you’re the BEST queen.