This mom uses her husband’s old shirts to make the most stylish outfits for her daughters

Olivia Harvey
Updated
This mom uses her husband’s old shirts to make the most stylish outfits for her daughters
This mom uses her husband’s old shirts to make the most stylish outfits for her daughters

Before you lug those old dress shirts to Goodwill, you might want to save a few for refashioning purposes. Take it from art teacher and mom of four, Stephanie Miller — those shirts come in handy. Miller turns her husband’s old shirts into dresses for her daughters, and we’re head-over-heels in love with her creations.

Originally an oil painter, Miller suffered from postpartum depression and a loss of identity after having kids. She wanted to get her head back into a positive, artistic space, but oil painting required too much time and air ventilation — neither of which Miller had in her family’s one-bedroom apartment.

So, she pulled out her sewing machine, saved her husband’s shirts from the donation pile, and tried her hand at fashion design.

I have a little tutorial coming of how to make this dress yourself. It is so easy and so cute. Also, I love having these two girls only 12moths apart. They are such great friends and I'm excited to see their friendship grow as they get older. #sewing #sew #diy #diysew #dyisewing #mothermakes #refashion #sewfun #mensshirt #beforeandafter #beforeandafter #doityourself #crafts #quicksew #quicksewingproject

A post shared by Stephanie Miller (@mothermakesx4) on Jun 4, 2017 at 8:36am PDT

As you can see, Miller’s new hobby really took off. Look how adorable these dresses are!

I've loved transforming men's dress shirts into dresses for my girls. It is a faster way to finish a project because the buttons and hemming is already done on the shirt. Also, fitting clothes on little kids is so much easier than on myself. I made both of my girls pinafore dresses and it only took me a hour on each dress. The girls love their dresses and didn't want to take them off to sleep which made my tired mama heart swell. #pinaforedress #sewing #sew #refasion #transformation #beforeandafter #sewfun #mothermakes #diy #quicksew #quicksewing

A post shared by Stephanie Miller (@mothermakesx4) on Jun 4, 2017 at 8:30am PDT

Recently, Miller made her daughters refashioned white dresses for a wedding reception. Unfortunately, kids being kids, they couldn’t keep the dresses white for long.

I really love this dress!! This is my favorite dress I've made in a long time. I've been wanting to try out this sleeve and I'm so happy with how it turned out. #bellsleeves #whitedress #wedding #flowergirl #transformation #refashion #remake #mensshirt #girlsdress #sew #sewing #sewingproject #nopattern #inventive #create #mothermakes

A post shared by Stephanie Miller (@mothermakesx4) on Jul 6, 2017 at 8:24am PDT

But that wasn’t a problem for the DIY queen. Miller simply dyed the dresses pink and blue to hide the existing stains. Brilliant!

Remember how she got blue nail polish on her white dress? Now I'm happy she did. I tried everything to get the blue nail polish out and was unsuccessful, So I dyed the dress blue. I used Rit liquid dye I bought from @walmart. It's funny, how it always happens, that when things look bad they can actually turn out good. #life #lifeismessy #kidsshouldntwearwhite #transformation #whitetoblue #girlsdress #sew #sewing #ritdye #dye #create #mothermakes

A post shared by Stephanie Miller (@mothermakesx4) on Jul 15, 2017 at 1:09pm PDT

So, this dye job was somewhat accidental but I love how it has a hint of tie dye to it. I want to make this dress for myself I love it so much. #ritdye #dye #tiedye #dress #girlsdress #beforeandafter #sewingproject #sewing #create #transform #transformation #dyeclothes #diy #littlegirldress #pinkdress #pinkdye

A post shared by Stephanie Miller (@mothermakesx4) on Jul 16, 2017 at 2:05pm PDT

This newly sewn plaid romper made from dad’s old shirt has fall written all over it.

Another refashion from one of @letsbuyutah's shirts. I let her pick out the shirt she wanted and I think this romper turned out so cute. This was my first time making shorts and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. #littleromper #littleromperbabes #sew #refashion #transform #transformation #diy #red #sewing #sewingproject #diy #mothermakes #newoutfit #mensdressshirttogirlsdress #mensshirt #mensdressshirts #daddysshirt

A post shared by Stephanie Miller (@mothermakesx4) on Jul 20, 2017 at 9:52am PDT

And this matching set is something that we need in our own closets ASAP.

I love the look of rompers but we've had too many accidents standing in front of the toilet because the romper couldn't come off fast enough...and that is why I made her a shirt and short combo instead. I used the original bottom hem of the dress shirt to make the bottom of the shorts and added pockets on this one. I love this look but it wasn't a hit for her and she didn't want to wear it past the pictures, I guess you win some and loose some. 🤷‍♀️

A post shared by Stephanie Miller (@mothermakesx4) on Jul 20, 2017 at 9:29pm PDT

Miller might be a whizz at refashioning men’s shirts into cute dresses and rompers, but Miller also loves designing for herself and her friends as well. She even turned these $10 jeans into a denim dress that we love, but got mixed reactions from her family (LOL).

I made this little #refashion from a pair of $10 paints that I love, but they were too big, and I didn't want to totally say good bye yet. I had no idea what I was going to make when I started and worked with only material from the pants. It was fun to try and be creative. Jon saw this dress and said, "I'm surprised I actually like it." My dad saw it and said, "What are you wearing?! That is so ugly." My mom saw it and said, "You could sell dresses like this." My dad responded, "You outta sell it." I've loved the honest responses for this one. What do you think was is a or a ?

A post shared by Stephanie Miller (@mothermakesx4) on Jun 7, 2017 at 6:28am PDT

And we’re fawning over this super simple shift dress.

Blue dress. Fabric cost: $7.50 Time: 3 hours Me: Happy #mothermakes #sewing #serger #bluedress #simple #quicksewing #dress #happytime

A post shared by Stephanie Miller (@mothermakesx4) on Feb 16, 2016 at 4:37pm PST

We’ve been totally inspired to make something great out of old clothes. Sorry, dudes of the world — your closets are no longer safe!