Upcycle #4 - Shirt to toddler dress

I might be getting better at this upcycling thing! This project only took me two hours.

I started with a womens size 4, 100% cotton, peasant blouse. Cost at thrift store: $3.

First, I cut off the sleeves:

Next I cut the front and the back of the shirt apart, folded them in half length-wise, and stacked them so that the hem on the bottom and top lined up:

Next I cut the dress out using the measurements from a dress pattern I made the other day.

Then came the sleeves. I folded both in half so the design was in the middle and cut the sleeves as big and as long as I could, only because that's what the picture in my head looked like :)

After that, I got so engaged in what I was doing, that I forgot to keep taking pictures. But here is the end result of my two hours of labor: A super cute little cotton dress for my baby girl (who is almost 2).

Here's a brief explanation on what I did to the neck-line. I used the scrap material from the sides of the shirt to make a casing (bias tape) for the elastic that I threaded through the top. I reused the ties that were originally on the front and used them on the back of the neck. I cut and sewed a vertical "head" hole for the back in the same style that it had in the front of the original shirt. Otherwise, I'm sure I would have problems getting the dress over her head. For the front of the dress, I added a small little black bow. I reused the ties on the sides of the dress that will draw in at her waistline. I serged all the seams, ironed them out, and VOILA!!! 

I finally got some pics of what this little dress looks like on my 2 year old model/recipient. 

Thanks for looking :)