Super Cute, Super Easy Dresses

First I cut the bottom off the t-shirts. About 2 1/2 inches from the underarm  part of the shirt.

I measured how long I wanted the skirt to be for each girl, and made it about  six times as wide as the bottom of the t-shirt.

I hemmed the bottom of the skirt and added fun pom-poms.

Here is the shirt and skirt with pom-poms.

I gathered the top of the skirt so it was as wide as the bottom of the shirt. I did the gathering by hand.

Then I turned the shirt inside out and put the skirt through it so I could pin the wrong sides together. 

Here it is all pinned together. I lined up the side seam of the skirt with one of the side seams  of the shirt.  Then I sewed  it all together with my machine.

Here is Baby's dress all finished.

Here is Penelope's dress all finished.

Excited girl, happy with her new dress.

Happy Baby

Better view of the dress.

Gotta love the knee socks.

Happy customer.

I made these dresses a couple days ago. I have had the fabric for months, but not the time to make them. But while Violet was napping and Penelope was having quiet time I managed to get these mostly done, and then after they woke up Steve played play dough with the girls while I finished them.

They were so easy, I can't wait to make more. I got two t-shirts at Target, and found the fabric on sale. I love the darling print with it's bright flowers and happy hummingbirds. The pom-poms were not on sale, but were too perfect to pass up. The sweet crochet flowers I bought at the craft store, and I let the girls choose which flowers they wanted - so the dresses are a little different, but still matching sister dresses. The girls love them, they wore them for two days in a row before I had to take them away to be washed. I love them too, they couldn't have been easier to make and I'm thinking of the possibilities for future dresses. Maybe short sleeves for spring and tank tops for summer. I'm wanting to make one with some turtlenecks I have already and a cozy flannel for the skirt next. Also, these dresses are great for my Penelope, who wants to dress herself, but often it is hard to figure out which is the front and which is the back of a dress when one is four. And buttons almost always prove to be a frustrating challenge. But these can slip over the head easily and the flowers in the front make figuring out which way it goes so much easier. These are important features for the easily frustrated, yet wanting to be independent four year old, after all. And it is evident from her smiling face that she is as pleased with her dress as I am, which of course, pleases me all the more.