I cannot believe our baby girl was practically swallowed up in this 6-12 month size dress just last April (here she is with mommy & a friend at a girly lunch); my baby girl is growing up!

And if you have a little lady of your own, you might just have some of these summery dresses tucked away in her closet, too. This one is ruched all around the top, so it is even easier than my five minute dress-to-skirt tutorial… This one takes about five seconds.

All I did was cut off the straps. That’s it. Since the chest (now waist) is sewn with elastic thread, there is no further work needed: it’s a perfect elastic-waist skirt! Done and done.

Then, to make an outfit completer, I rolled the straps into two simple fabric flowers and grabbed a few buttons out of my button stash.

I also scored a stack of Old Navy tanks at the beginning of summer when they were on sale for like a dollar each. This pale pink one was perfect for this embellished shirt. I arranged the buttons and fabric flowers to sort of cascade along one side of the collar.

Sew the button and flowers down, and you’re ready to roll!

The hardest part of this project was getting my daughter to stand still so I could get a photo! [And yes I did stand her on the chair so she’d stop running around and laughing at me for five milliseconds.]

I love an easy, fast, free, stylish new outfit! Wheeee!

{Look at that mischievous face. She thinks it is hilarious that she is thwarting my efforts at getting an in-focus photo of her. Gotta love that girl.}

So, anyone else going to rummage through those baby clothes for a little upcycling project for your daughter?!