Back home

Well, howdy all....
Reed and I are back home and of course I didn't get any sewing done while I was in Houston, but I did get a lot of shopping in and lot's of fun fabrics. I also had a nice visit with my cousins, Kim and Horst, and since Horst paid for our dinner, I offered to make his daughter Athena, my God-daughter, a dress. Mind you, I've never made one of these dresses, (I'm talking about a pillowcase dress)but it seemed simple enough.

I've seen these dresses all over Etsy...but what got me really thinking about them was my sister-in-law, Laura. So, I got really excited about the prospect of making one and I searched online for some guidance. This is what I found:
http://www.everythingsewing.net/pillowcase_dress_how_to.htm
http://www.sewingmamas.com/b/downloads.php?do=file&id=17

Sooo, if you know me, I was too excited to read all the directions, but I think it turned out really cute. I used a seersucker fabric with cherries all over(seersucker reminds me of my childhood and some of the things my mom made for me to wear during the summer), so the dress is light and airy. The ribbon is actually some scrap red cotton material I had, but I underestimated how long to make it, and although I can make a bow I thought a pretty knot was better with the length. (I'll probably go out tomorrow and buy some stitched grosgain ribbon to replace it.)

I used Reed as my model since he and Athena are about the same size and age. He's normally an easy going guy who will let me dress and undress him however I please, but even at 22 months I think he knew I was putting a girl's dress on him and he did not cooperate AT ALL. But after chasing him around the living room a couple of times I was able to wrestle him to the ground and get it on him. It looked pretty sweet...the dimensions are 21 inches long (it hit about mid-calf on Reed who's 33 inches tall now) and 21.5 inches wide. Sorry, I didn't take any pictures of Reed in the dress...

As my first attempt at the pillowcase dress, I think I'm going to actually keep it. My sewing was a little sloppy, but at 50% off at Hancock fabric, it was a good deal and I'll probably get more and try again.

Here are some more pillowcase dresses on Etsy that are adorable:

These are really pretty.

Wonder why I like these....

I heart Amy Butler fabrics.

I just remembered that even I have a pillowcase blouse