Game Day Dress: a tutorial

College football season is here and I couldn't be more excited! Game days in Aggieland are always so fun, especially the first game of the season. We go all out here. Girls in dresses and sometimes boots. They sell game day dresses at one little fabric shop in town but I scoff at their $100 price tags. I've become such a snob when it comes to things like this. Thinking, "I could totally make that myself. Why would I pay so much for it here?" The number one reason why sewing is awesome! You can save some money while customizing to your own particular tastes. 

Of course you could make a dress out of any T-shirt. High school, professional teams, band t-shirt for a concert, organizations, etc. You can also eliminate the need to purchase fabric by using the hem of an old tee to extend the dress. 

I did make one little mistake in this tutorial. I'll point it out to you when we get there (: 

Materials:

you'll need...

Oversized T-shirt

(I normally wear a medium but purchased an XL for this project)

1/3 yd + Knit Fabric

Lace Hem Tape or Ribbon

(at least two yards)

1/2" wide Elastic

(measure where the dress will fit above your bust, then add 2 inches)

Tutorial:

Begin by measuring around your bust. Take that number, divide it in half, and add 2. 

i.e. I measured 36 inches around so I divided it in half and added 2 inches to get a final number of 20 inches. This will be the width of your dress.

Start by turning your shirt inside out and measuring across..

Mark on either side of your predetermined measurement.

Here's where I made that little mistake that I told you about.  I drew a straight line down to the hem from the marks that I made earlier.

What I probably should have done was extend the line into more of an A shape.  It turned out fine but this is how I would do it next time:

Sew up the line you drew on either side of the shirt. 

Make a straight cut just under the collar.

Before cutting off the extra seam allowance, try on the top and make sure it's not too tight. When you're sure you don't need to make any corrections cut off the extra fabric on the other side of your stitches.

Now you should have something like this:

Now let's make the casing. Iron down about 3/4" of fabric at the top of the dress.

and one more time.

Pin down.

Sew with a zig zag or stretch stitch. 

Leave a two inch gap somewhere near the seam of the dress.

Thread your elastic around the entire casing.

Sew the ends together

and then sew the gap closed.

If you just want a gameday top you can stop right here. If you're wanting a dress, you'll probably want to add a little length to it. I did this the same way as I did in my lengthening a dress tutorial. Check that post for a little more detailed process including a formula for the width  of fabric that you'll need.

Once you've cut your fabric (mine was 13 inches wide), fold hot dog style and pin. 

Sew down the length of the fabric.

Turn inside out and press to give it a nice shape.

Press one of the ends in like so:

Insert the unpressed end into the pressed end so that you have a loop of fabric. The circumference of the loop should match the circumference of the hem of your t-shirt. 

Sew along the hem of the tee.

Now just cinch in the waist with a little lace tape or ribbon and you're ready for the game!

Hullabaloo Caneck Caneck! Time for some fightin' Texas Aggie football!

My roommate got me thinking about making these dresses and a slightly different version to sell. What do you think? Do you think anyone would buy them? I've been toying with the idea of starting an Etsy shop for a while but I guess I'm afraid of failure. I'd hate to invest time and money and end up never selling anything. Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks (:

*Update 9/26/11*

Thanks so much for your support! My very first customer contacted me and I made this little dress for her:

Doesn't it look great on her? Maybe I really can do this!

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