So… here is result one of the clothes hacking scheme. We were given this little suit by one of  S-’s brothers and though it didn’t fit Bub in its former state, it was easy to imagine a way to adjust it, based on the t-shirt I made for her earlier this month.

The original suit.

As with the t-shirt, I cut off the restraining fastenings at the bottom. And, as with the t-shirt, you could just leave it at that. The jersey knit means that it won’t fray, so if you’re really not a seamstress (or tailor) then even just doing that will prolong the life of the  outfit.

Makes a cute sweater as it is.

So, to start making the dress, decide where you want the waist to be and chop-chop the bottom away.

Stash fabric and some more of the random lace I found.

After cutting the bottom off, decide which fabric you want to use for the skirt and how long the skirt should be. Then, you need at least 2 and a half times the width of the top in order to get the gathered skirt.

Trim!

While you’re hemming the bottom of the skirt fabric, it’s a good time to add any trim you might be using so you only need to run the fabric through the machine once. I am the laziest sewer ever.

The most boring tutorial picture ever!

I folded the skirt fabric in half and marked the center. This means that you know how much of the fabric to ruffle on the front and back of the top.

This probably doesn’t make sense as a photograph. I’m not really sure what I was thinking when I took it.

I folded the skirt fabric so that the right sides were together, and put top inside it so that I could pin everything together.  I hoped the above picture shows what I’m on about, though I doubt it…

The gathering pinned to the top, ready to sew.

Anyways, I sewed the skirt fabric to the top and then stitched the skirt to itself to create a tube… I realise I’m being really ineloquent today but I actually managed to get up this morning before 7am with S- and Bub so I’m not really with it.

The finished article.

And this is what you get. I wanted to embellish the top with some vintage steamboat buttons but S- said it would have all looked a little much. And since I’m not happy with the skirt to top ratio, I though I’d trust his judgement on this one.

Hope you like it. I’m doing some more alterations of sleep suits over the next few days. Should I post them on here, or are you sick of seeing baby clothes?

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