kojotutorial: a pieced jersey matched set (the dress to match the pants)

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Piper Jane has about a hundred dresses hanging in her closet (seriously!). And yet, when I am picking out clothes for her, I usually defer to the dresses or outfits that are soft and comfy. Which means she wears her pieced jersey dress about once a week- haha!

On my “If there were more hours in a day” dream to-make list, I’d sit down and make the girl about five more of these. Maybe before summer?

If you’d like to make an uber-comfy, oh so adorable pieced jersey dress (bonus- it matches the pieced jersey pants!) for your little one, you’ll need:
-a onesie that fits your little one (I used one with a stained bottom half, but perfectly presentable neckline and sleeves)
-three or four old t-shirts (or long, thin rectangles of jersey)
-sewing machine and sewing supplies

1. Begin by cutting four ‘tiers’ for the skirt portion of the dress. Since I was making a dress for a 6 month old, my tiers are each about 4″ tall. If you’re making a bigger dress, adjust the height of each tier accordingly. I used strips of t-shirts for the tiers of the skirt. All of the t-shirts were slightly different sizes, so after I pieced them together, I trimmed them all down to match the smallest t-shirt’s width (I was using men’s t-shirts and would estimate my rectangle was about 36″ wide, though it has plenty of gather. You could definitely use women’s t-shirts with a smaller width and be fine!). Piece the rectangles together with the seams exposed (which means as you sew, you’ll be sewing on the front side of the t-shirts (with the insides facing in).

2. Once you’ve pieced all of your tiers into one rectangle of jersey, sew along a vertical edge to make a tube, ensuring that the various colors/seams line up.

3. Sew a basting stitch along the top edge of the tube. Gather the jersey together until the circumference just about matches the circumference of your onesie.

4. Turn the tube inside out and upside down and slide the onesie down into the tube. Pin in place. Sew the two pieces together. Hold upright and the skirt will fall down, making the cutest little pieced jersey dress.

5. Hang in your little one’s closet and then count how many times you put her in it in the span of a month. Once a week? More than that? It’s fabulous, right?

ps- There are tons of variations of these dresses on the internet (and many other tutorials as well!). This is definitely not my original idea, just my version of a supercute trend!

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33 Comments

  3. I have to ask…what is the very comfy looking thing that Piper is laying in??? I have to get one for my next baby! And I will be making the pants for my boys as soon as I go through our old t-shirts!! 🙂

    Reply

  7. this is fabulous! I need to store this away in the when I have kids file 🙂 p.s. I'd love for you to come link up to handmade tuesdays @ ladybug blessings if you have a chance 🙂

    Reply

  9. Oh, my goodness. This is fabulous! I want to make one right now. LOVE it! Thanks for sharing! I might actually give this a try next time I have a spare minute! : )

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  11. Way, way, way too cute!! And what a great way to use up old t-shirts! Nothing like reusing and ending up with something better!!

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  12. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this! The pants were insanely cute, but I have two girls and I can't resist making these dresses. Thank you for the tutorial and teh fantastic idea. Did I mention that I LLLLLLLL OOOOOOO VVVVVVV EEEEEE this!

    Reply

  15. So glad that I ran across your blog. It is wonderful. I love to do crafts and I don't do enough anymore. Your things are adorable and your baby girl is SO precious!

    Reply

  17. Are you just using 100% cotton t-shirts? Or are there jersey t-shirts?

    Thanks for sharing! It's adorable!

    Reply

  18. Does the onesie still do up or do you cut off the bottom. My little one is walking but I love the look of this dress for her and it looks snuggly for winter.
    Thanks for the great tut.

    Reply

  21. Oh, my! I totally LOVE this dress!! I'm going to make one or two or three! We're expecting girly #5 (baby #7) in November and I am looking forward to making her piles and piles of clothes.

    I did giggle a bit when I saw your baby's name. We are planning to name our little one Piper Jada!

    Reply

  22. SO excited to find this! I have been wanting to make some comfy dresses for our daughter due in May, Logan Elizabeth. I have made lots of little cotton dresses, but out of quilting type cotton – and have been wanting to do something like this with a softer material! And I have an entire drawer FULL of plain white onesies that need something to spruce them up 🙂

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    1. So glad that you’re excited abou tthis. Your drawer of onesies will be put to good use. 🙂 Send a picture over when you finish- we’d love to see your take!

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      1. I’m so frustrated that I don’t actually own any t-shirts myself so I can’t start on one right now (at almost 11pm lol)… I will have to make a Good Will run tomorrow for some fun colored t-shirts!

        Reply

    1. Lauren, it wouldn’t let me comment on FB (probably because I’m in my kojo account), but I. LOVE. THESE!
      Way to get them done so quickly. 🙂 Makes me want to make some more. 🙂

      Reply

  25. Did you use elastic thread to sew the ruffle tiers onto the onesie to allow stretching when putting the dress on the baby?

    Btw, super duper cute baby and adorable dress!! :). Thank you for sharing your tutorial!

    Reply

    1. Hey Paige, I just used regular thread, but with a zigzag stitch (looks like lightening) since it’s jersey- seems to give it all of the stretch neccesary.
      Thanks for the compliments! 🙂

      Reply
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