turning a t-shirt into a onsie? HELP!

[devilish_fetish]

HELP!!!!! I need to turn a childs shirt (size 4/5) into a onsie by tomorrow. It's for a modeling competition for one of my 6 month olds, and that's the smallest size shirt they had, so i can't get a smaller shirt. He HAS to wear the shirt at the competition tomorrow, so just not doing it's not an option either. I have a very limited sewing ability (i can do buttons and sew two pieces of fabric together (i think it's a whipstitch?) but it's not pretty. I do have a sewing machine, but don't really know how to work it. How can i make this happen? I was thinking that i would buy a bunch of snaps (like are at the bottom of onesies anyways) and sew those on, or worse case scenario sew on hook and eye closures or buttons. It's too big for him across the front and also too long (he can fit in 9-12 month outfits well). Will this really work and not look bad? Is there an easier way? What other ways could this work? Please help.

[cristeen]

Pick up some snap tape. Unless you have a snap press, snap tape is much easier to work with.

[woodchick]

This tutorial might help! Good luck

[MamaGlow]

Will anyone see the bottom?
If there are pants over you could use those mitten clips to hold the front to the back; I've seen them cheap at Walmart...

[Bird Girl]

T-shirt material (jersey) won't ravel when you cut it, so you can hack off the bits that are too long, fold the material over twice, iron the fold flat, and whipstitch it closed. Use sharp scissors--it will make the cuts neater.

[flapjack]

Honestly? I'm not entirely sure what the deal is with the Tshirt, but what I would do is cut off all the seams and the arms and make a whole new t-shirt or vest (singlet?) Two 12" squares for the front and back and lightly shape the neck and armholes, and put it with some tartan trousers to go with a whole punk look type thing.

Alternatively, I'd unpick the seams, take the arms off, take a few inches off each side and put the sleeves and side seams back. Then cut the legs to make a romper, using some of the fabric from the sides to make a gusset. That would be the classiest option.

[courtenay_e]

I was thinking flapjack's romper idea, too. Really, the across is such an important thing when you're trying to fit a top on somebody (the across is the space between the arm holes across the chest), that you would have to amend the across to not have it look like it is huge on him.