Crewcuts Tea Cake Dress Knock-off & Tutorial

This is my first real tutorial, so please bare with me.  If you have any questions, please ask!

The inspiration:

My version:

The adorable inspiration dress is from Crewcuts, but $48 is more than I want to spend on a play dress and the smallest size they offer is a size 2, way too big for my 15 month old.

I knew I could copy it, so I did.  Below is how you can make one too.

Materials Used (size 18 months):

3-6 month sized onesie (version 1); Top 1/3 4T t-shirt (version 2): bodice

Bottom 2/3 4T t-shirt: skirt

Men's Medium turtleneck: ruffles

Note: If you had an extra large men's t-shirt you would probably have plenty of fabric for an 18 month dress.  This dress is kind of heavy, I recommend using a lightweight knit.

4T t-shirt & 3-6 month onesie (bottom 2/3 removed)

Version 1, using a onesie

1: Cut off the top portion of a onesie for the bodice of the dress.  

2:  Determine how gathered you want your dress to be.  My bodice was 8" wide and I didn't want my dress very gathered, I decided to add 4" to my width.

3:  Using the bottom hem of the t-shirt as your hem, cut your dress so it will be the length you want.  Mine was 10" long and 12" wide.  Since I was using a smaller t-shirt I didn't have to sew any side seams.  If you aren't so lucky, sew your side seams now.  This is the skirt of the dress.

4: Determine the angle you want your ruffles to lie and mark your skirt from the hem to the edge.  I used a 45 degree angle.

5:  Mark your skirt every 1 1/4" from the initial line and continue until the entire skirt is marked.  I chose to put my markings only on the front of the skirt, but you could have them continue around the entire skirt.

6:  Cut ruffles.  I made mine 3" wide since they will be folded in half.  If you are using a shirt, cut the ruffles going horizontally instead of vertically.

7: Fold ruffles in half, with long edges together and wrong sides facing.  Gather along the top edge using your preferred method.

8: Pin ruffles using your markings as a guide to place them.

9:  Sew ruffles in place using a 1/4" seam allowance.  Be careful to only sew the ruffle and the layer you are working on.  I tucked the end of each ruffle under itself so that the tubes wouldn't be open.

10:  Mark the centers and sides of your skirt, then gather it.

11: Place right side of skirt and right side of bodice together, matching centers and sides.  Pin then sew in place.

12: Turn your dress right side out, press gently along the seam taking care not to flatten your ruffles.

13: Try it on your little girl and take lots of pictures!

You'll notice I started with the flowered bodice & switched to a blue bodice.  My onesie wasn't yarn dyed, so at the waist seam where the onesie stretched you could see white between the ribs.  I didn't like the way it looked, so I tore it off and did a blue top instead.

Version 2- Using top part of 4T t-shirt

1: Use existing top to determine width and armhole placement. Mark.

2. Cut one side then fold in half and cut the other side so they will be the same.

3. Sew up side seams, remember to place the right sides together, then add sleeves using this tutorial.  Mine didn't flutter as much as I had envisioned, but I was tired of ripping out seams, so I left it.

4. Go back to step 10 above and continue.

If you have any questions, please ask, I'll do my best to answer them.