Make a July 4th Pillowcase Dress
July 3, 2012 in Projects
With the summer heat, my daughter has been asking daily to wear a dress. They are a great way to keep cool that is for sure! I thought that I would spend some time working on my Ellure Plus and make her a dress.
With July 4th approaching, I thought I would make her a cute festive dress to wear. I remembered I had some red and white seersucker that I had purchased on sale at Jo-Ann Fabrics, and this was the perfect time to use it.
I know these dresses are made out of a pillowcase, but I decided to use seersucker fabric. I started with a simple rectangle just like a pillowcase. I had about a yard of fabric. I decided to make a dress for my daughter and my niece. The easiest way to determine a size was to use a dress that fits them well. I used those dresses as templates to help determine the length I wanted.
1. First I washed and ironed my fabric.
2. Since I was making two dresses I cut my fabric in half. Here is one section of fabric that was cut.
3. Next I serged the ends of the fabric to eliminate fraying. I also trimmed the loose ends that appeared after cutting.
4. Next I stitched a hem along the bottom of the dress. For the two dresses i am making, I made one with a 1/2 inch hem, and one with 1/4 inch hem. I used the dress “templates” to help me with length.
5. Now it is time to make arm holes. I folded my fabric so I could see the front and back of the dress. Depending on what size dress you want to make, your arm holes will be different. For a toddler dress (age 2.5) I made my arm holes approximately 7 inches long by 3 inches wide. I cut them in a “j” shape. The other dress was for a smaller child (age 10 months). I made those arm holes 6 inches long by 4 inches wide. When you tie the ribbons, the length of the arm holes will adjust.
6. I folded the dress to make sure the arm holes are lined up. Looks good:)
7. Now it is time for the finishing touches. I folded over the arm holes and stitched to eliminate a raw edge.
8. Then I stitched the front and back of the dress together.
9. Last step…make a hem that you can slide the ribbon through that will be the straps of the dress. The ribbon I chose was 7/8 inch wide, so I just folded it over and used that as a guide for the width of my hem. Mine was about an inch. I folded the fabric over the ribbon, and pressed with the iron to make a crease. I took the ribbon out and made a stitch along the fabric.
10. The fun part! Using a safety pin, I threaded the ribbon through the fabric. Any ribbon is cute with this type of dress. I chose blue, simply to be patriotic, but can change it for different purposes. I put the dress on the child’s shoulder to get an estimate for ribbon length.
I chose to use two different ribbons and tie them above each shoulder. Another option is to use one ribbon and make one tie.
Finished product:
It is definitely a cute and easy dress to make. With the ribbon straps the dress can grow with your child too. I may change the ribbons to a different color after July 4th. The fabric is perfect for a hot, summer day! i think I will for sure try this type of dress again…and maybe even use Monogram Works to embroider something on the front.