DIY Valentine’s Day Dress

I was shopping at Target the other day, and was perusing through the girl’s clothing area when I found some darling tank tops on clearance. They were red with silver hearts, so I bought two of them because I had a really fun idea of what I wanted to do with them. I knew they would be easy to turn into little jumpers for my girls, and I was right! If you want to make your own Valentine’s Day dress, just follow this tutorial.

What you’ll need:

• a tank top
• grey knit fabric
• 1/2 inch elastic
• iron on vinyl (optional)

Start by cutting your tank top so that it is long enough to reach just above the hips of your little one. There is no exact science to this, so don’t panic. Just make sure it is long enough to hit around the natural waistline.

Next, cut the grey knit fabric to be three times as wide as the tank top is, and then long enough that it will land somewhere around the knees. (I cut the length to be below the knees.) Then sew the knit together so that it is in a loop.

Once you have your loop sewn together, you’ll want to fold over the top of the knit about an inch and sew it down using a large stitch or a zig-zag stitch so that it can still stretch, but leave a small opening so that you can thread the elastic through. The elastic should be cut to be the length of the measurement around the waist where the dress will be sitting. This can also be a little bit loose and doesn’t need to be exact. It is better to error on the big side so that the dress stays nice and cozy.

Use a safety pin to help you thread the elastic through the casing you just created in the grey knit. The knit should bunch up as you are threading it through to give it a cute gathered look all along the skirt. The elastic will then need the ends to be stitched together to finish it off.

Sew the skirt that is finished to the tank top using a zig zag stitch or a serger. The skirt gathering will be sewn to the front of the tank top so that the gathering is still showing when put together.

You can stop there, or you can add the cute little pockets to the front of the skirt. Using part of the bottom of the tank top, cut out a rectangular shape that has a curved bottom. I found the best way to do that is to fold the rectangle in half and then cut a rounded shape so that both sides are equal. Once you have the shape you are hoping for, use it as a pattern to cut out the second pocket.

I used a small zig zag stitch along the edge of the pocket to help finish off the edge. The best thing I did was to use the very bottom of the tank top to make the pockets because the bottom seam became the top of the pocket and saved me the work of finishing it myself.

One last detail for the dress. I cut out the cute love using my iron on vinyl machine andiron on vinyl to attach to the front of the dress. Addie wanted it on hers, but Lillie decided she didn’t want it on her dress. I think it’s cute both ways, so I had no problem having it a little different for each girl.

These dresses are just so cute for Valentine’s Day. I can’t get enough of how cute they are on my girls, and they couldn’t stop telling me how cozy the dresses were. That is a win win for me!

I love being able to do these kinds of little things for my girls. It is so fun for me, and I love when they love them too. Plus, they are always up for a fun photoshoot where they get to dress up all fancy with their hair curled and their lipstick on.