Practicing pillowcase dresses

Today I attempted a pillowcase dress. First, I have to give myself a pat on the back for finishing this project. Midway through, I almost stopped, then even after a little tantrum, I pulled myself together and the leftover pieces of my sewing efforts. I was following a two different tutorials while I sewed deciding each step which technique I'd use (probably my first mistake, right?). I decided instead of using the typical method of putting pieces of ribbon into the neckline; I 'd try putting elastic in the neckline and ribbon into the arm holes (via casings). Hmm, this was A LOT harder than I thought it would be. I ended up cutting off the neck of my cute little dress and starting over. At this point, I knew my dress wouldn't be a dress, but probably a shirt if I completed it (great idea, Jody!).


So, I took a second shot at the dress, but this time I didn't follow either tutorial and ended up just figuring it out on my own (seems like I do better this way.) I could write on and on giving you the long version of my rant but here's the reader's digest version. I was frustrated at that I wasn't able to catch myself before chopping off the top of my dress. I could have probably figured out how to fix it, but I was tired of trying to fix it and decided to start over. Before even starting the sewing project, I promised myself no matter what I'd try and if I couldn't salvage the dress, I'd convert it back into a cute pillow (oh by the way, I didn't use a pillowcase. I just used yardage/fabric I had). Anyway, here's my pillowcase dress shirt:



It was late and Ava was in bed, so Elmo agreed to model the shirt. On him, it actually fit as a dress.



Here's the aftermath of my sewing tantrum...I chopped the top right off. Sad thing is...one step before my tantrum, I was actually pretty happy with the outcome of the dress. Then I decided to try making casings in the armholes..I couldn't get it, so out came my scissors. That's what got me in trouble in the first place trying to cut notches in the armholes to sew in casings. I've now learned to keep the scissors away until I have really thought it over and/or try to use my seam ripper.

Here's the dress shirt. I think it'll be too wide for Ava. I don't love the green ribbon, but didn't have any others I liked better (and I ran out of the blue with white dots...it was really wide too):



I might try to take in the sides for more of an A-line..like this (I just folded the extra fabric for this photo).



Even though Ava might not actually be able to wear it, I did learn a lot from this pillowcase project. I'll try making a few more. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon.

Other sewing notes (for those interested in reading about this, but also so I don't forget what/how I did this dress):

I ended up using the recommendation of elastic in the neckline casing (because I was worried the ribbon would have a drawsting effect and pose a strangulation hazard). However, I decided to sew the ribbon onto the elastic before closing the casing. I liked this look bettter than the other tutorial's recommendation of using bias tape to cover the arm holes and to tie into bows. I just didn't think the bias tape bows would be as cute. Easier, but not as cute. I'm still open to trying the bias-tape-as-ribbon method though...

Here's a photo of how I sewed the ribbon to the elastic. Probably easier to do by hand, but I really like my new sewing machine.



This is the ribbon stitched to the end of the elastic:



After stitching the ribbon to the elastic I put it into the casing and stitched it closed (by hand this time).

Oh, one more note (these notes would make sense if/when you read or try the pillowcase tutorial here)...before I made the casing in the neckline, I finished the armholes by turning the raw edges in (actually a really small casing, but too small to fit in ribbon). It's a later step in the tutorial, but I thought that was a lot harder to do once the elastic was already in the casings. Also I realized that if I make the arm holes less of a "J" shape, they'd be easier to do the casing if I wanted to put the ribbon in. But I still think I like the ribbon in the neckline better...

I have to admit that since I had the idea to blog about this project, I was more motivated to finish it-even when I wanted to wad up the fabric and run :)