Tutorial ~ How To Turn Rompers Into Shirts

I bought a bunch of cute little rompers in the spring for my little girl and they already don’t fit her.  They just ride up around her pudgy little thighs and make her look a tad bit uncomfortable.  I love the pattern and color of them though, so I turned them into shirts.  So easy!  Also with a shirt layered under them I will be able to carry them into her fall wardrobe.  Here is what I did:

This romper is a favorite, so I will probably be trying to figure out how to re-purpose this for years.  She actually tore the snap area the first time she wore it…sniff.

I just cut off the bottom portion….

And then hemmed the bottom.  When I put it on her it was just a little to loose so I ended up making a casing between the liner and the shirt and added some elastic, as you can see in the picture above.  When she gets a little older I will just take out the elastic and then it will last for another year!  If your romper does not have a liner, just fold the bottom under and stitch to make a casing, then when you pull the elastic out one day you can just add a top stitch for an instant hem.

This was another favorite, so we had to save it too.  I decided to give it a banded waistband, which worked great because it is a cotton knit.

I just cut it like shown making sure to measure where it would fall on her waist.  I wanted my waistband to be 1½ inches when done so I cut it three inches wide.

I took the waistband piece and cut it to be a couple inches bigger than her waist.  Fold in half right sides together, and stitch the two short ends together making a ring.  Now turn it right side out and fold in half wrong sides together.  Set aside.

Now take the shirt and sew a basting stitch around the bottom and gather.

Now take your waistband and slide it over the bottom of the shirt.  Adjust the gathers so that the shirt is the same width and pin.  Make sure the raw edge of the waistband meets up with the raw edge of the shirt.  Then sew the two together with a 3/8 inch inseam, and your done!  You can serge or zigzag to finish the edge, but this material does not fray so I didn’t.

I wish I would have taken some pictures of them on her, they look so cute, but I am afraid if I would have tried to pull off a photo shoot in the middle of moving my husband would have flipped!  Oh well.

I am going to got through her clothes from last summer and look for any rompers now.  We are moving to where it will be hot for a few more months so a few new shirts will come in handy.  She is a plump 20 months, but I think from making these that 12 month rompers would fit as shirts.  So get to digging ladies!