RePurpose: Pants to Shirt/Tunic

Welcome to my first post using strictly pictures from my iPhone. You're so lucky!

Anyway, a bit about myself: I have trouble throwing clothes away. If they don't work in some way, i'll try my best to fix 'em. I'll dye them, hem them, de-hem them, take them in, let them out, and re-purpose them.

I've had these pants for awhile because while they fit everywhere else, they're a few inches too short. They obviously weren't made for human giraffes like myself.

The legs could comfortably fit 4 wine bottles. That's a new unit of measurement i'm using, and trust me - it'll catch. Nice soft fabric, a-line shape, already has a bottom hem...perfect for my tiny girl. I wanted it to be long enough to be considered a tunic, so i made the cut accordingly.

And plain black on a little girl is boring so i thought i'd put one of her favorite things on there for her. I drew up this little guy...

I cut it out and pinned it to the shirt. Since i intended to use paint, i put another sheet of paper between the layers so that it wouldn't bleed through. You could also use bleach and spray it, but i just wasn't in the mood.

I sponged white paint to surround my little brontosaurus...

Here's what he looked like all sponged:

Now it's time to cut the arm openings. I intended for this to be kind of a pillowcase dress-type of thing, so it'll be sleeveless with a gathered top.

And i hemmed the arm holes because i liked it better than leaving it unfinished, though i probably could have since it's a soft t-shirt material and would have folded in on itself. But it looks better this way. Trust this.

Now i need a tie for the top, and in comes this pink shirt! I cut off the bottom hem after i decided it was the right color. And, lucky me, i didn't throw it away hoping that i could use the fabric for something. Voila!

And i tried my best to get a clear shot of this. I'd pulled down the front of the shirt and folded the back flap over the tie so that i could sew it in there. Does that make sense? I needed the fabric to gather and the tie to be adjustable. 

After hemming that mess on both the back and front of the dress, here's the finished project:

It fits!

I'll not be posting any pictures of or details about my kids on this blog, so this picture is a huge stretch for me, but i deemed it necessary so y'all could see how it fit. You're welcome.

And now i got a pair of one-legged yoga pants in the basement. New fashion trend? You found it here first, Lululemon. But seriously, i'll probably make her another dress. Because nothing says "class" like wearing a pant leg.