City Park Tee Dress

Hi guys!  Welcome to City Park Tee hack week!

I’m going to be sharing three ways that I turned the City Park Tee pattern into a dress.  (and just fyi, these hacks can be applied in the same way to the Union St. Tee for women!)

First up today is a classic straight tee dress.  It’s the easiest of the hacks and can be done in just a few seconds!  We’ll progress from simple to more involved this week, but I promise all hacking is easy with some basic drafting knowledge and a little bit of practice!

The straight up tee dress really only requires you to lengthen the shirt pattern – did I not say it was easy?  There are only a couple rules to remember when lengthening a shirt to a dress:

1.  Keep the dress above the knee or at tea or maxi length for the most flattering style.
2. When lengthening the shirt, the amount that you add to the center front of the shirt front and back pattern must be the exact same measurement as the amount you add to the side seam.  The side seam will be shorter than the center.  These two equal length lines are marked with stars in the illustration.
3. Keep the angle of the side seam continuous from the shirt down to the dress hem – no flaring!  (You could angle it in for a fitted pencil dress though, just make sure the widest part is at the hips and then it tapers in as you reach the knee.)
4. The hem line must leave the center front and center back at a 90 degree angle.  Gradually angle the hem up to reach the side seam.

That’s it!  Just a few easy rules!  And you really don’t need to add very much length.  For my 7 yr old, I only added about 6.5″ including the hem allowance.

This style is so great for summer time because all you need are a pair of flip flops and you’re good to go!  It’s so comfy you’ll feel like you’re wearing your jammies, but look super cute at the same time.  

So go do an easy tee dress hack and then meet me back here tomorrow when we’ll add a little flair!  (At least 20 pieces.)

Please tell me I’m not the only one who thinks of that movie every time I hear the word “flair”.