Toddler girl top to dress refashion

Recently I was putting away my daughters old clothes to make way for the summer ones. I realized how many of the cute dresses and tops she has that she can no longer wear. If you have small children you will know what I am talking about. They grow out of their clothes very fast. My daughter is still a baby which means every few months she will need new clothes. Some of the clothes are hardly worn and is in good condition albiet a bit short.

In today's post we will see how we can refashion a top and a suspender skirt into a cute dress. Both are a little shorter for my daughter but after I was done the length was perfect for her.

Top with the sleeves chopped.

I love the print on this cotton fabric. It is an Old navy top that she got as a gift last year which is too small for her. No worries, we will see what we can do with this. First the sleeves has to go as it is summer and temperatures are in the upper 80's.

Under stitch the armholes down.

Now you can get your child to wear this as a sleeveless top or .... improvise and make it into a cute dress.

Cut the panel and remove the suspenders.

The suspender skirt is also too small for her (not in the waist but length) for her. It is made of cotton and I made sure that the colors of the top and the skirt are not clashing. I cut the front panel from the bottom of the skirt and removed the suspenders.

Now it is time to get to serious work.

I stitched together the top where the ruffles meet with the top panel of the skirt. 

Now you are done.

Finished product. I love how it turned out as the ruffle hem will cover any imperfections when you are stitching the top and the skirt together. If the width of your top and skirt are different - put some tucks in. In my case the top is wider than the skirt so when I stitched both together  I added a couple of tucks on the under side of the top where you join the skirt. It is hardly visible and the ruffle hem will cover it completely.

I love how it turned out. A very cute summer dress for a toddler.

I kept the sleeves and the front panel of the suspender skirt for future refashions :-). Stay tuned.