Like most of my DIY projects, I've got no idea how I thought of this one. A few months ago I just had the urge to make a Hawaiian print playsuit. I drew it out and actually posted the sketch on my twitter, if you remember. Drawing it out is pretty much the most planning I do when it comes to sewing; the rest is just trial and error and A LOT of improvisation. A warning to those of you with a slow internet connection: this is a very picture heavy post! I like tutorials with less text, more pictures... so here we go!
All you need for this project (besides a sewing machine, duh) is a too-big button up shirt. Best bet is to hit up the men's section at your thrift store, and try to find one that goes just past your crotch when it's on. It doesn't matter how long the sleeves are, but it's a plus if the shoulder seams fit somewhat.
To illustrate how long yours should be...
All you need for this project (besides a sewing machine, duh) is a too-big button up shirt. Best bet is to hit up the men's section at your thrift store, and try to find one that goes just past your crotch when it's on. It doesn't matter how long the sleeves are, but it's a plus if the shoulder seams fit somewhat.
To illustrate how long yours should be...Flip the shirt inside out and lay it flat on the ground.
Take some chalk or a marker and mark out where your waist is on the shirt. Then draw out a curved line on both side to show where you're going to cut and sew later. The line should start at the top, a few inches away from the shoulder seam, then follow down the waist, then curve outward to the bottom for where your hips should be. Hopefully you can see how I marked it out here with pink chalk. Pin along this line (except for the sleeves) and try on the shirt to make sure the waist and hips curve well with your body. You DON'T want it to be tight, just shaped according to your body.
If it seems okay then sew along your pin line-- again not on the arms! Just cut along your marked out line to chop off those sleeves. You'll see from the picture below that your shirt should now have a slight hourglass shape.
Take some chalk or a marker and mark out where your waist is on the shirt. Then draw out a curved line on both side to show where you're going to cut and sew later. The line should start at the top, a few inches away from the shoulder seam, then follow down the waist, then curve outward to the bottom for where your hips should be. Hopefully you can see how I marked it out here with pink chalk. Pin along this line (except for the sleeves) and try on the shirt to make sure the waist and hips curve well with your body. You DON'T want it to be tight, just shaped according to your body. If it seems okay then sew along your pin line-- again not on the arms! Just cut along your marked out line to chop off those sleeves. You'll see from the picture below that your shirt should now have a slight hourglass shape.I guess I lied before when I said all you need is the shirt for this project. You also need some scrap fabric and some one inch wide elastic, enough to go around your waist. With the scrap fabric cut a looooong piece that is about 1.5 inches thick. This is going to be the casing for the waist elastic. With your shirt inside out, take the fabric strip and pin it along the sides around the waist like of the shirt, like so:
Then sew it down on both sides of the strip.
The next step is to sew up the bottom half of the shirt. Make sure the waist line stiches match up, then pin down the front and take out any buttons along the way. Sew one line straight down.
Last part: the crotch! Take those sleeves you chopped off and cut one open and lay it down flat on the ground. Draw out an hourglass shape that's about 8 inches long, 4 across. I forgot to measure this piece but just use your instict: how much crotch coverage do you really need?
To make it look more finished, I took sleeves scraps, cut them into strips, ironed them folded in like bias tape, then sewed them on the 2 edges like so:
With your shirt flipped inside out, sew down the crotch piece in the center of the bottom of the shirt, front and back. Note that the center is NOT determined by the shirt's opening because the button holes need to overlap on top of the buttons. Use a measuring tape instead to determine the center of the front and back.
I sewed two seams across for extra durability.
Laying flat, inside out, the romper should look something like this!
Depending on where you chopped off the sleeves, you might want to roll them or you could just fold them a quarter inch and sew a seam. I wanted to roll mine up but after I cut them they seemed fine how they were.
With your shirt flipped inside out, sew down the crotch piece in the center of the bottom of the shirt, front and back. Note that the center is NOT determined by the shirt's opening because the button holes need to overlap on top of the buttons. Use a measuring tape instead to determine the center of the front and back. I sewed two seams across for extra durability. Laying flat, inside out, the romper should look something like this! Depending on where you chopped off the sleeves, you might want to roll them or you could just fold them a quarter inch and sew a seam. I wanted to roll mine up but after I cut them they seemed fine how they were. The very last step is to take your 1 inch wide elastic, measure it around your waist so it's snug (not tight), and cut accordingly. Then use the ol' safety pin trick to feed it through the casing and then sew down the elastic along the casing openings to keep it in place.
That's pretty much it, you're done! If the shirt you start out with is a little on the longer side, then I think it would look great with rolled bottoms. Just fold the leg holes over once or twice then use a hand-sewing needle to sew them down. My romper was short enough, otherwise I would have loved to have folded the leg openings.
Manditory camera loving! Enjoy your new playsuit/romper/whatever for summer. I tried to de-cutify it a little with my round framed sunglasses, sheer bike-shorts, (really, they're just black tights that I hacked off the bottom) and lace-up wedges. I know what you're thinking... you're really digging my white legs in these photos. Be jelz.
Manditory camera loving! Enjoy your new playsuit/romper/whatever for summer. I tried to de-cutify it a little with my round framed sunglasses, sheer bike-shorts, (really, they're just black tights that I hacked off the bottom) and lace-up wedges. I know what you're thinking... you're really digging my white legs in these photos. Be jelz.
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