Onesie Dress Sewing Tutorial

inside: Turn a onesie into a dress with this fun and easy sewing tutorial. How to make a dress from a onesie with simple instructions and video. Add a skirt to any onesie to make a dress.

**Updated 5/22**

Remember this adorable girl? We fostered her in the spring… {2014} {and adopted her in the spring of 2015} Anyway… I used her as a model to make some really cute Onesie Dresses… I like  this version because the dress is long, but it’s still snaps like a onesie and stays on great. Today’s Onesie Dress Sewing Tutorial will show you how to make your own.. and its EASY! I’m added a circle skirt option in the updated and some new photos.. The cute baby photos remain the same.

Onesie Dress Sewing Tutorial

This onesie dress tutorial has a few options. Originally,  I made a dress with a store bought onesie and some fabric, and a second one with a homemade onesie and fabric. This second option allows greater coordination of fabric and colors, but I think both are really great. The updated tutorial also gives a circle skirt option. All are made with knit fabric.

You can make the skirt as long as you want, but make sure you think about the age of the child. Crawling and learning to walk can be a tough edge to wear a skirt. I would go with a super short option if this is the age you are sewing for.

Other cute things to sew for baby:

• Baby Skirt
• Baby Romper
• Baby Onesie guest book idea
• Baby Blanket sewing tutorials and patterns

How to add a skirt to a onesie

Ok, so you need to grab a onesie… or make one! This Onesie Pattern from the Lullaby Line {affiliate link} is a great one… easy to make and lovely directions too… It runs premie-4T, which is great!  You also need a 1/2 yard of fabric for the skirt.

 Cut your onesie in half.. You want to cut it about 1″ below the sleeve. I also tried out cutting it 2″ below the arms… I liked this version as well.

If you are making your own, make the full onesie first, then cut in in half. {this is how I did it}

I will first go over making the gathered skirt and if you want to make the circle skirt version. Take your knit fabric for the skirt. You want the stretch of the fabric to go from side to side like this…

I wanted my skirt to be as long as the onesie. You can make it longer and shorter depending on what you are looking for. I  lined up the bottom of the bodysuit and then left about 1″ below for the hem. Cut the top even with the onesie. You want the skirt to be about 3x the width of the onesie. This will make it fit around the front and back, plus give some extra to gather a bit. You can make it wider if you want more gathers.

Sew the  skirt into a circle by sewing up the short side seam. This will be the back seam. Hem the skirt with a zig-zag or double needle to maintain stretch.

Gather the top of the skirt {opposite the hem} until it is just slightly larger than the width of the onesie.

Now, you need to create a onesie dress sandwich. {catchy phrase right?} Start with the bottom of the onesie right side out, place the wrong side of the skirt to the right side of the onesie lining up the tops. Now, add the right side of the onesie top matching up with the right side of the skirt.

Line up the side seams to make sure the onesie isn’t twisted. Make sure before you sew that the back of the top is on the same side side of the skirt. I once reversed it so the that the top was on backwards… opps! Sew the three layers of fabric in place.

Ok! Now we are going to talk about doing the same thing, but with a circle skirt! All circle skirt require just a bit of math. I’ll give you the basic breakdown here, but if you have any other questions about circle skirts see my post with ALL the circle skirt details.

After you have cut the onesie in half measure the bottom of the top. If it’s laid flat you will have to double that number to get the total circumference of the onesie. Divide that number by 6.28 {double pi} Here is the result I got when I did that.

Fold your fabric then fold it again to get four layers with a double fold in one corner. This is my bottom left corner in the photo. The 2.7″ is the waist measurement to cut. I use a tape measure to go from the corner to the 2.7″ mark. Make several marks, then cut out the corner.

From that new cut line measure down to the skirt length you already decided. Measure and mark from the waist cut every few inches. Cut the bottom edge. I decided not to hem this skirt and just leave the raw edge.

From this point create the amazing onesie skirt sandwich as mentioned above. Mark the sides of the skirt to match the side seams. Make sure to match the front and back and clip the three layers together. Sew the center seam, then open to see your new onesie dress.

Ta-Da!!! A pretty, long onesie dress!! Let me know if you have any questions or comments on this tutorial. Can you believe how much this girl has grown!!!??