Summertime and the Living is Thrifty–Tshirt to Nightie how-to

Today I’m going to show you how to take an old tshirt and turn it into a new nightie. This works for little girls of all ages, and it’s a great way to stock up on jammies, I think. I truly despise the fact that I have to pay ridiculous amounts of money for jammies that are generally not all that cute, and often do not last all that long in the wash. I’m lucky enough to have girls, and I have whipped up nighties like this in the time it takes for Nicole to have a bath. (Around half an hour.) This is also a GREAT project if you are just getting started out sewing, because it is not very complicated, you don’t need to finish the neck or hemline because they are already done or the sleeves because it’s a knit fabric and doesn’t fray. PLUS… you are using a tshirt. Whether it’s one of yours or your husbands that has seen better days, or for the toddler/baby set an older sibling’s cast off tee, its basically FREE, reusing something that otherwise might have been cast off. And big BONUS… what is comfier than a well-worn tshirt? And what is cooler than wearing daddy’s old billabong shirt to bed, hm??

For this project you’ll want to gather up a tank top that fits your child (preferably not too snug so the jammies will last, or you can cut an extra inch bigger around it.) as well as a cast off shirt that isn’t too long or too short to be a dress for the child it’s intended for (although you could cut it shorter, this is knit, it won’t fray) and some pins, thread, scissors, sewing chalk/marker… the usual crowd.

As you can see I like to make it a bit roomy. Jammies should last forever. This particular one will probably last her a few years! And it was FREE!  Anyways… on to the instructions! Let me know if they are unclear.
Please not that step three says "cut the sleeves as shown”, not “cut the sleeves asshole” like a cursory glance might lead you to believe. I don’t own whiteout, apparently.

Simple, yes? Please enjoy responsibly! ;)

What is your favourite way to reuse cast off tshirts? Hop on over to our flickr group at http://www.flickr.com/groups/thriftysummer/ and share! At the end of the month there will be at least one prizewinner drawn from the photo pool, and I have some nifty prizes coming your way!