Maternity top to girl's maxi dress

Phoebe has been growing like a weed this summer, and has somehow completely skipped over 3T and now fits comfortably into a 4T.  It's definitely time for me to sew her up a new batch of clothes since preschool is right around the corner - eeeks!

As I've stated in previous posts, I really love working with re-purposed clothing when sewing for children, since you can usually get more than enough fabric out of an adult garment, plus you get to take advantage of already finished seams, hems, cuffs.  Yay for being lazy!

So pardon the terrible photo, but here's a before picture of a maternity top that I definitely never plan to wear again....

I didn't have a particular pattern in mind - just measured around Phoebe's chest and waist (21") and determined how long I wanted the dress to be (22" with an already finished hem!) and cut a rectangle to that size (I think I only ended up using the front panel from the original top, lol) and sewed the long ends together to form a tube.  

Then I cut a band that was about 5" wide by 20" long (you want the band a little shorter so it will stay tight around her chest and not fall down).  I sewed the bands short sides together, then folded it in half to a double thickness and basted the ends so it would stay put while attaching the skirt.

Then it was as simple as sewing the skirt to the chest band.  Just be sure to stretch the band a little bit while sewing to fit it to the skirt.  I also hand sewed on an extra strap that ties around her neck to make sure it stays up while she's running around.

I'll be back soon with lots more Phoebe clothes (I've got to round up some photoshoot bribes first) and some other back to school sewing projects!