it’s summer and i’m out doing summery things, so today i’m bringing home a guest post i wrote for the leadup to elsie marley’s spring kid’s clothes week challenge. it includes a supertinymini tutorial for how to turn rae’s flashback skinny tee pattern into a flutter sleeve dress, and a bonus photo that didn’t post on meg’s blog due to technical difficulties on my end.

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When Meg contacted me with her idea to have a bunch of gals sew Rae’s flashback skinny tee pattern, I immediately knew what to do – remix it into a dress! My daughter is almost four and wants to wear a dress every day. She considers them essential for dancing, which is her most favorite thing to do. I like sewing dresses, especially when they’re washable, comfortable, and easy for her to play in (I’m a practical mama). Soft jersey knit is the perfect material for all of that!

I made this simple tank dress with an XXL Old Navy shirt from the clearance rack, plus scraps of a t-shirt from another project. I have trouble finding good knit fabric and I almost always end up using repurposed sale rack men’s shirts – as big as I can get ’em! Extra bonus points if I can preserve the factory hem, though Rae offers great hemming tips within the pattern as well.

I extended the hemline of the 3T skinny tee pattern about 6″ (use a dress you already have as a guide), and made it A-line by using a straight edge, starting at the armpit and finishing about 3″ from the side of where the original pattern would be if it were dress length. I trimmed the top of the shoulder seams about 1/2″ (though I might recommend a little more), bound the armholes per Rae’s pattern instructions, and widened the neckline a bit. I also added a little pocket for extra detail.

For the flutter sleeves, I added 5″ to each armhole measurement and cut two strips to that length, each 1.5″ wide. I rounded the ends and gathered them along the longer edge. I attached each sleeve to the underside of the armhole, topstitching both on the outside and inside edges of the binding to catch it securely. I left the edges raw, since knit doesn’t fray.

The skinny tee pattern is a quick sew and so versatile, it’s great for adding your own customizations! I first sewed a “regular” version here as practice before remixing it into a dress.

Thanks for designing such an awesome pattern, Rae, and thanks for having me, Meg!