I've been away from blogging for a while so it was time for a craft. I whipped out my trusty sewing machine and thought I'd make something for a friend who just found out she's having a baby girl. I wanted to do something special and personal so I thought I'd incorporate her favorite college football team into a Pillowcase Dress. (It's against my better judgement to use this fabric since I'm a Georgia Bulldog fan, but you've go to give the people what they want!!) I've always thought they were adorable and seemed like something even I couldn't mess up since it's been a while since I attempted to sew...
The dress I made is for a 12 month old. Of course, you can always use a pillowcase, since it's where the name came from, but I used fabric.
1. Cut fabric to approx 16" in length and 30" wide.
2. With right sides facing together, sew side seam and then iron open.
3. Fold fabric in half widthwise so you can cut both armholes at once. Measure 3" down and 1.5" in from the seam and create a J shape. Cut armholes.
4. To finish the armholes, fold under 1/4" and press. Fold under another 1/4" and sew. This part was a little tricky, since it's a curve, but I just pinned, pinned, pinned. You could also sew bias tape around - I might try that next time. You want to make sure to do this so you don't have raw edges on that sensitive baby skin.
5. To finish the top, I pressed under 1/4" and then folded under 1" and sew.
6. Cut ribbon into pieces about 1 yard each and feed it thru the pockets you just made. You may need to cut them a little shorter, but wait until you try it on the little one first. Use a little fray-check on the edges of the ribbon.
7. You could just fold the bottom under 2 or 3 inches and sew, but I decided to add a contrasting border. I cut a 6" piece of fabric 32". I folded it in half to create a 3" border on the dress. Press each raw edge under 1/4" and sew into place. You can also add ric rac at the border - I'm still considering it.
Can't wait to see her face when she sees it. The youngest tailgater will look adorable!
