Bad bananas June 28, 2010 – Posted in: Repurpose, Sewing, Tutorials

So for Sofie’s birthday, I decided we all needed monkey-themed shirts. I made The Hubs wear a shirt I painted a yellow hat on (you know, The Man with the Yellow Hat?!). He wasn’t too thrilled about the idea, but was an excellent sport about it! Especially when I announced I wasn’t wearing mine. My bananas looked AWFUL and I flat out refused to wear the shirt. I was really upset and as I went to chuck the shirt in the trash, I remembered I no longer throw away clothes that could become something else!

I tossed the shirt in my upcycling pile and have been eyeing it for the past 2 weeks. Last night I decided Sofie needed a new sundress/bathing suit cover-up. So bad bananas became cute dress!

I cut it off straight under the armpits. Then I cut off each sleeve, the neck, and the bananas. I wanted to cut my straps at 2″ because once sewn and turned, they’d be nice and chunky. I was able to get 2″ between the bananas and neck, then used the back piece of the bananas to cut 2 more 2″ strips.

The construction was EASY. I shirred the dress part, leaving the existing hem as the bottom of the dress and the top of the dress raw (knit doesn’t fray!). I did 11 rows at 1/4″ intervals. I folded the straps in half lengthwise and sewed at 1/4″ inseam. Then I turned them, left the ends raw, and sewed them to the front and back. Tackled the toddler, tied straps, and done!