How to Make a Flapper Dress From a T-Shirt

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Flappers were all the rage in the 1920s.
Image Credit: Studio-Annika/iStock/GettyImages

Things You'll Need

  • Spaghetti-strap tank top in your size

  • T-shirt in your size

  • 2 t-shirts a size or two larger than your size

  • Measuring tape

  • Pins

  • Scissors

  • Ball point needle

  • Polyester thread

  • Sewing machine

Flapper dresses -- short slip dresses, sometimes with decorative beading, sequins or fringe -- were extremely fashionable in the 1920s and 30s. When worn with a feather boa, a headband or cloche hat, heeled t-strap shoes, a long beaded necklace and a short bob hairstyle, a flapper dress makes a simple Halloween outfit or costume for a theatrical show. You can make a flapper dress with several strategically cut and sewn T-shirts in the colors of your choice.

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Wear the Tank Top

Put on the tank top to begin to make a flapper dress.

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Measure the Top, Then Remove It

Measure from the bottom of your tank top down to your knee or higher, depending on how long you want the dress to be. Remove the top when you're done measuring.

Measure and Cut the T-shirt

Take the T-shirt in your size and measure that same length from the bottom of your shirt. Make a mark on the shirt to show where you need to cut. Trim the top part off of the shirt and put it aside.

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Pin the Shirt

Pin the bottom of the shirt cut-side-up to the bottom of your tank top. Pin it so that the cut side is on the outside, with the tank top hem on the inside.

Sew the Shirts Together

Sew the shirts together with a ball point needle and polyester thread to make a dress. If using a sewing machine, use a zigzag stitch. If you don't have a sewing machine, hand-sew using a slip stitch.

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Measure the Simple Flapper Dress

Measure the length of the dress from top to bottom. Divide this length by 5 and round up to the next inch. For example, if your dress is 32 inches long, 32 divided by 5 is 6.4 inches, then rounded up to the next inch is 7 inches.

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Cut and Measure for the Shirt Tubes

Cut the bottom hems off of your larger shirts. From the bottoms of your shirts, measure and cut five equal lengths straight across so you get five equal tubes. Use the number obtained in the calculation above to determine how wide each tube should be for your simple flapper dress.

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Position the Tubes

Place these T-shirt tubes around your original dress, starting at the very top of the dress. Overlap the tubes only at the ends if necessary, with the higher pieces overlapping the lower pieces. Pin the tubes to the original dress and sew them on the same way you sewed on the first piece.

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Complete Your Simple Flapper Dress

Cut fringe on the tubes you sewed onto the dress. Cut from the bottom to the top of each tube, just short of your stitches. Each piece of fringe should be about 1/3 inch wide. Cut fringe all around each of the tubes. Now you have a flapper fringe skirt on the dress.

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