DIY Children's Craft Smock

So my hours were cut at work and I've found myself with a little extra time on my hands.  With this time I've done things like go to the dentist and work on my wedding.  My parents live about 20 miles away and consequently my dentist is still by their house because I never changed dentists after I moved out.  Also, my maid of honor is my sister who lives with my parents so needless to say, I've been spending a lot of time at my parents' house lately.  My parents also watch my nephews once a week.  One is three and the other is six months old.  Since I've been spending more time with them, I've decided to do a few crafts with the three year old.

One craft I decided to do is to dye white school glue with food coloring and use it to color on dollar store picture frames creating a stained glass effect.  I did realize that this could possibly become a mess when in the hands of a three year old and he could potentially get dyed glue all over his clothes.  I then took it upon myself to make him a smock to protect his clothes.

I started with an old t-shirt my mom had given me.  She had won it in a casino on a cruise.  Then I cut off the side seem and sleeves on each side.

Save this because you'll need part of it later

This is actually the back side of the shirt

Once you cut the sleeves out, you can put a design on the front of your smock if you'd like.  I chose "Chicks Dig Me cuz I'm Crafty" with a chick on it because I can draw a decent chick and it was for my nephew.

Next, cut two 1/2 inch sized slits about a quarter from the top and half way from the top on each side of the shirt on the front and back of the shirt.  The slits should be about 1/2 inch from the edge of the smock.  These will be the holes that you tie the straps to.

I actually held the front and back together and cut them at the same time.

Take the sleeve pieces and side seems that you cut off of the original t shirt and cut the sleeve section off.  Fold the remaining section in half vertically and cut it into 4 strips long-wise.  Do this for both side seem/ sleeve sections so that you have 8 strips of fabric.

Once you have your 8 strips, pull on them so that they curl up and make a thinner strings like so

Feed the string through one of the holes you cut on the side of your smock and knot it.  Do this for each one of the holes on the side of your smock. Be sure to at least double knot it so it stays.

Now all you have to do is slip the neck opening over the child's head and tie the strings on either side in bows so that it stays on.

This was a size medium and it went down to my three year old nephew's ankles.  This didn't cover his sleeves and even though he was wearing a short sleeved t-shirt, he managed to get glue on them and we had to wipe them down right away to avoid staining.  Nevertheless, it did keep his front  clear of glue so I'd say it was a success.