Sewing Pillowcase Dresses

I made 5 of these this week. I have never made them before so they are getting better and faster as I go. I will write a tutorial for the next one I make. These are very easy to make. I'm just learning to sew and they are easy for me. Vintage pillowcases seem to be the cutest. I made one for each of my girls as practice dresses. I will make them each another one now that I have figured out how I like them.

Julia looks adorable. I feel like this dress is missing something? I think I may redo the bottom hem with a different fabric, or add rickrack.

Kiley. I'm not sure how I feel about the bigger girl dresses. I think we may use these as nightgowns. Modest though, no doubt. Just kind of shapeless. Maybe a nice vintage print shortened to be more like a top would be cuter.

The next set of pictures are of a pillowcase style baby dress I made for my friend who just had a little girl. I found this adorable blue toile fabric remnant about a month ago. I had no idea what I would use it for. It was only about a dollar and too cute to pass up. I was thinking I would  make a throw pillow cover with it. Anyway, it was the perfect amount of material for a baby dress.

This type of dress doesn't require a pattern, and is very simple and extremely forgiving of mistakes. I did make a template for the arm holes.

 I had no idea how to make a diaper cover so I found this tutorial online with a free printable pattern. The pattern makes a size 18-24m, so I modified it and took an inch off the top and side. I'm not sure what size I ended up with though. Looks about 6 months-ish

I hung it on a special baby hanger and made a gift tag. I used a vintage photo of a little girl that I found and printed it on card stock. I cut it with pinking shears and tied it to the hanger with ribbon. I love the boutique look of the whole gift.

I attached a clothes pin to the back of the hanger with ribbon to hold the diaper cover.

I'm sad this fabric will not be a cute pillow in my house, but it will be adorable on that baby girl.

It's hard to gauge the size of these dresses because they grow with you. the neckline can become wider and tied looser to allow for bigger arms and a bigger child. It can eventually be worn as a top with a skirt. Add a shirt underneath and they can be worn in the winter too.

Measurements for this baby dress were 12" L , 17" W, Arm holes cut at 2.5" L x 2" W J cut, the bottom hemmed with bias tape and ribbon. The armholes are lined with brown fabric made bias tape, and grosgrain ribbon for the tie. The diaper cover is just plain white fabric, also from a remnant. The entire dress cost about $5.00 to make.