Stephanie Miller is a busy mom of four from Utah who has found the perfect way to upcycle her husband's old, oversized shirts into adorable dresses for her two daughters.
Since having kids, Stephanie was unable to practice painting and needed an outlet. “I felt a loss of identity,” Stephanie tells Babble. “I couldn’t paint anymore and didn’t feel fulfilled like I used to.”
That's why Stephanie's hubby Jon surprised his wife with a $50 sewing machine from Walmart! Inspired by seamstresses she saw online, the mom decided to try her hand out at designing her own clothes. "Sewing helped break my postpartum and honestly made me happy," she says.
Without using patterns, the mom can take Jon's discarded shirts, turning them into stylish dresses, rompers, and shirt-and-short sets for her two young daughters. And the girls absolutely adore their mom's designs!
"I've loved making dresses for my little girls out of men's shirts because it's pretty fast, and the transformation is always drastic," Stephanie writes on her Instagram.
Keep scrolling to see the amazing transformations Stephanie does — and maybe even get inspired to create your own clothes for your kids!
[H/T: The Huffington Post]
Stephanie Miller, 27, is a mom of four from Utah. A painter by trade, Stephanie was having a hard time adjusting to motherhood while trying to find time to express herself. “I was suffering with postpartum depression, and with the lifestyle shock of motherhood, I felt a loss of identity," she tells HuffPost.
But thankfully, her husband Jon stumbled upon the perfect outlet for his wife!
Like any good husband, Jon wanted to help out his wife. He went to Walmart and picked out a $50 sewing machine.
While she started making stuffed animals, the lightbulb went off above her head when Jon was clearing out his closet and tossing perfectly good button-down shirts.
“I was frustrated at him for wanting to get rid of something so new, but it had shrunk. I kept it and a few of his other shirts in hopes of making something out of them," Stephanie says. "I follow some other seamstresses on Instagram and saw some of their refashions and thought, ‘I could try that.’"
Stephanie started an Instagram account to document her amazing shirt transformations. She starts by posting a photo of her daughters wearing the oversized shirts.
Then, with the sewing machine and some thread, the mom turns the big shirts into adorable and stylish outfits for her girls!
"This shirt was her daddy's shirt that shrunk," she says about this pink shirt. "Now they ask me to make them dresses and never want to take them off!"
This dress is the finished design after Stephanie worked her magic on her hubby's discarded shirt.
"I've loved transforming men's dress shirts into dresses for my girls," Stephanie writes on her Instagram. "It is a faster way to finish a project because the buttons and hemming is already done on the shirt."
The mom can take any old shirt and make it look unrecognizable.
Stephanie's daughters choose the old shirts themselves. "I let her pick out the shirt she wanted," Stephanie writes.
After the shirt is chosen, Stephanie takes measurements and gets to work. This time, she tried a romper!
Stephanie's daughter's completed romper looks like it came straight off the rack at a department store!
"This was my first time making shorts, and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be," she writes.
While the mom isn't selling designs just yet, she is hoping to start her own business in the future. For now, her daughters reap all of the benefits of their mom's creativity!
Stephanie did not expect that a $50 sewing machine and a few oversized shirts would spark such a passion. Luckily for her, she was a natural.
"This is my very first sewing machine," she says about this photo. "I'll always be grateful for that 2-stitch machine I learned to sew on."
Stephanie's DIY outfits have impressed strangers all over the world, and she's even given a few tips and instructions on how other moms can make them. Her designs receive a ton of love online for those inspired by her work!
Instagram users like Chelsie express how talented this mama is! Along with dozens of other users who are blown away by how she can turn an oversized shirt into something so pretty!
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