Pillowcase Dress

Now that Christmas has passed, I can finally blog about the adorable pillowcase dress I made. I made this dress for my niece Olivia. She just turned 1 year old this past November. I went ahead and made the dress with the measurements of 2T so that she could wear it this summer. Believe it or not, this is my first sewing project since a miniature pillow I made in my 6th grade home-ec class. So, I was a little rusty. I didn't have a sewing machine at the time (I got one for Christmas YAAAAYYY!!) but my friend Rachel came over so that I could use hers and so that she could help me.

I found the fabric and ribbon at Hobby Lobby. I thought it was perfect for a little girls summer dress!

Unfortunately, I wasn't thinking about making a blog entry out of this because I was so excited about making the dress. I don't have a picture by picture tutorial.

Update 5/23/2013

Since this original post back in January, I have made several pillow case dresses. I made a 4th of July dress today for my niece Emily and shot a few pics for an easy to follow tutorial.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Measure your child from their shoulder to where you want the dress to end. Add 3 inches to that number for seam allowance. If you are like me and don't have access to the little girl to measure, you can follow these generic measurements that I got from Nap Time Crafts. 
• 6 months- 14.5" long
• 12 months- 16.5" long
• 18 months- 17.5" long
• 2T- 18.5" long
• 3T- 19.5" long
• 4T- 20.5" long
• 5- 21.5" long
• 6- 22.5" long
2. Cut your fabric width wise as well. Depending on which way the pattern runs on your fabric you will either cut it half width wise or length wise. (If I lost you with that, just leave a comment and I will try explaining it a better way). Here are generic width measurements.
• 6-18 months- 15" wide
• 2T-4T- 16"-20" wide
• 5-6- 21"-24" wide
3. Now that you have your fabric cut to size, it's time to measure and cut out the arm holes. Fold the dress in half width wise so that you can cut both arm holes at the same time and even. Make a "J" shaped cut with these approximate measurements.
• 6 month-2T- cut down 3" from the top and in 1.5" from the side.
• 3T-4T- cut down 4" from the top and in 2" from the side.
• 4-5- cut down 5" to 6" from the top and 2" from the side.
• 6- cut down 7" to 8" from the top and 2" from the side.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
4. Face the pretty sides of the fabric together and pin down the sides of the dress to make your seams. (Note: you will need two seams if the pattern on your fabric runs vertically. For example: since I did a chevron pattern I wanted the pattern on the dress to run horizontally. They make the fabric with the chevron running vertically, so I basically just folded the fabric in half width wise and cut it in half to get the front and the back of the dress. Sew one seam on each side. If your fabric pattern runs horizontally or if there really isn't a pattern to follow then you will just have one seam down the back of the dress). If I lost you there, please let me know!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Iron your seams down and now its time to sew your arm holes. To do this you will need to fold down the edges in 1/4 inch and iron. Then fold down another 1/4 inch and iron again, pin and sew.
   
6. Fold down the top of the dress 1" and sew.
   
7. Fold up the bottom 3" and hem.
8. Cut your ribbon into 2 equal pieces at 1 yard (36") a piece. Feel free to burn the ends to keep them from fraying. The easiest way to thread the ribbon through the opening is to attach a safety pin to the end.
   

And that's it! The hardest part of making these is the arm holes. If you can do that then you are good to go. Please feel free to comment if you have any questions. I also sell these dresses so if you are interested then you can leave a comment below or send me an email.

And here are my sweet nieces wearing their dresses at a 4th of July celebration in England (yeah, don't ask).