Buying clothes for kids that seem to go up a size every time you blink can be a frustrating and expensive experience, but who has time to create clothes from scratch?
Stephanie Miller is one of those people that actually enjoys making clothes, but she’s found a fun twist to the traditional – transforming her husband’s old dress shirts into adorable outfits for her daughters.
The mum-of-four has a degree in fine arts, but after having her first child and suffering postpartum depression she found it impossible to continue her oil painting.
After teaching herself to sew by watching YouTube and following seamstresses on Instagram, Stephanie told Babble: “Sewing helped break my postpartum and honestly made me happy.”
The idea to use men’s dress shirts when her husband cleaned out his closet and Stephanie saw the opportunity to make something great. She can now make dresses for her daughters in less than an hour and they are often dyed and embellished with ruffles, pockets and funky sleeves.
“I’ve loved transforming men’s dress shirts into dresses for my girls,” she wrote on Instagram.
“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.”
“Making and creating is such an important process to me and I believe everyone can create something beautiful in their life that brings deep satisfaction and fulfilment,” she said.
“When we take unorganized material into our hands and mould it into something that did not exist before, it invigorates the soul.”
The mum also hasn’t lost her artistic touch with her Instagram account littered with paintings she gifts to friends and family and even does the occasional commission if you’re lucky.
