Adult T-shirts to Baby Onesies

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I've been on a sewing kick this week. There's actually two factors that worked together to create this perfect storm: One, we're moving. Two, I discovered that What Not to Wear has a bunch of full episodes on Youtube.  Both things motivated me to clean out my closet and left me with a bunch of old clothes that I felt I could reuse for Baby.

(Side note about What Not to Wear before moving on to the sewing project: I love that show. I don't know if you've ever watched it, but it's great. If you've never seen it, you might think that it's kind of a judgmental show because it's telling people that what they're currently wearing isn't so great. But it's actually completely the opposite. Yes, they do come and tell people that their current wardrobe is bad. But, the whole show is about building up the people's confidence and self-esteem, and showing them that they're beautiful and that they can and should wear clothes that reflect that. Anyway, I just really love it.)

One of the main thing I cleared from my closet this week was all those free t-shirts I accumulated at BYU. As Stacy and Clinton (the hosts of What Not to Wear) explain, those free t-shirts have no real shape. They are rectangles. I am not a rectangle. Therefore, they are not very flattering on my body. (Another side note: I did save my "stylish" t-shirts; you know, they ones that are actually made for girls. Not the unisex kind.)

Now, although I logically know that these t-shirts don't flatter me as much as other shirts could, I am still sentimentally attached to them. Some I've had for years, like my girls camp shirts, and others I just like, like my free BYU ones. So, what to do? Make them into onesies for Baby, of course! That way, they get to stick around. I don't have to deal with the emotional trauma of giving them away and never seeing them again, and she has some new clothes for when she grows out of her current onesies.

I've made two so far. Both of these were "test" onesies using shirts I wasn't that sentimentally attached to. This blue one I decided to just entirely wing and see how it turned out. I used a onesie that Baby hasn't grown into yet to get a good idea of what size to make and what shapes to cut. I laid it on top of the shirt, cut the the pieces out, and, like I said, just went for it. Here's before:

And after:

(I used the back of the original t-shirt to make the onesie's front. I should have taken a picture of the back so you could see, but oh well.)

I used buttons at the neck to make the neck opening bigger when putting it on:

And buttons at the bottom for the diaper opening:

This second onesie I did very differently. I followed the tutorial here, using her templates and instructions. (I have to admit, I found the instructions somewhat hard to follow at times; I had to think about each step for a while to get what she was saying. But, I figured it out. And I'm grateful that she made the tutorial.)

For this one, I used snaps at the bottom.

I really like how it turned out. It fits well in the shoulders, though it is a bit long so I will shorten it next time. I think for the next one I'll try making the leg openings like a regular onesie rather than a "shortall," either with a regular hem or possibly using elastic to make a ruffle leg? We'll see. I'll definitely show you once I make more, but it might be a while since we're moving. If I get a chance in the next couple weeks to make more, I will, but if I don't it might be a month or so.

Anyway, those are the first t-shirt onesies!