I love refashioning t-shirts. Most of the time I just take plain shirts and embellish them, but this one I actually sized down. I found these adorable Hanes t-shirts at the dollar store in an extra small. Here is how I transformed it!

Step 1: Take a shirt that is the correct size and lay it in top of your shirt to be resized. Make sure the shirt you are modifying is inside out. Otherwise you might feel foolish for having to pin it twice. I bet you can guess how I know that! I used pins to mark the sleeves and the sides of the smaller t-shirt. You could use a fabric marking pen, or whatever you would like. Make sure you on the bottom that you give yourself enough room to hem your shirt if necessary.

Step 2: Sew along your pins to take in the sides. Note: Since I was adding a tutu to this dress, I didn’t need to hem the bottom. Otherwise you would trim your excess fabric and then hem the bottom.

Step 3: Wave your magic embellishing wand and stencil paint, applique, and add a tutu! I appliqued the heart on and then freezer paper stenciled the letters. I made this one for valentine’s day, but tried to make it neutral enough that you could wear it any time of the year. I used a tutorial at Joy’s Hope to make the tutu.


The Dollar Tree near me almost always has this style of shirt. They even come in several different colors. It works so well because the neck on it is on the smaller side. I made one for my two year old and the neck fit okay as well.

Recommended Reading:

Dollar Store Frame Girly bank Bunny Peep Shirt using template Tie-Dyed Pumpkin T-shirts