DIY Spiderman Dress!!!

DIY SpiderMan Dress from T-shirt.

Make a Spiderman Dress from an old T-shirt!

I've done a lot of these t-shirt dresses before. In fact, my mother made them for me as a child. Maybe you have some old t-shirts. Maybe you can't find a cute dress for your kid. Maybe there aren't a bunch of cute dresses that feature Spiderman. There are many reasons to sew a dress.

So, grab your t-shirt.

Use a piece of clothing, a shirt or dress
that fits the kiddo. Use pins, or draw outline
where you want to take in. Leave some room
for seam allowance.

Sew the side seams to the correct measurements.
(according to the markings you made
from the fitted piece)

 Use a ballpoint needle, and either a zig zag  stitch (or a stitch for knits) or a serger for these side seams and for most of the stitching. A straight stitch wont stretch and it will rip some seams.

Add some sparkles!!! Or not, whatever
you or your kiddo likes.

Use the other piece (skirt, or shorts)
to measure where you want the skirt to fall.

 I measured the skirt on the original dress. It was a bit larger than the hem of the shirt due to some gathers to add fullness to the skirt. If you need a real measurement, then use the hem measurement of the (cut and sewn) shirt, and add another 1" for the seam allowance. Or you can add more if you want some gathers. I used the same measurement of the shirt hem because I was planning on adding three gathered ruffles sewn to the underskirt.

Cut out your base fabric. I used a stiff double
knit as my base skirt. I sewed the ruffles onto
it. The ruffled fabric was too transparent
to go without a liner. Plus, I wanted
three layers of ruffles, not just one.

Now, I forgot to take a picture of my layout, and the making of the ruffled pieces. But, I cut about three times the length of the skirt, for the ruffled fabric. Then I gathered the ruffles to fit the measurement of the underskirt. I like to use an elastic thread in my bobbin (you have to hand wind it not use the bobbin winder on your machine) Then I have a long zig zag with a looser tension. Then, I pull the elastic thread by hand to fit the measurements. The fabric I had used (a very thin almost pantyhose like knit) wouldn't work well with my gathering foot. Then, I pinned my ruffle on to the skirt, and sewed it on (carefully). I also finished the ends of the ruffle pieces with my serger. I hadn't test washed this fabric so I wasn't sure it would hold up without a hem. 

Make sure to use the correct ballpoint needles, and the right stitch (either zig zag or serger) to make sure you have stretch in the finished garment. 

I used my serger to attach the
skirt to the shirt. But then I also added a
sparkly elastic over the seam. 

There's the goose, cute as can be in her Spiderman dress. As she tells me often,

"Spiderman is Peter Parker, and Peter Parker is a GOOD GUY."

Couldn't have said it better Kiddo.

, Rudy