A Different kind of Pillowcase Dress

Summertime is right around the corner, and what that is going to mean for me is sewing lots of little dresses.  And maybe shorts, but probably not very likely.  I made this dress for Creamie last night, and while it’s not perfect, and kind of looks like a nightgown instead of a dress, I like how it turned out.  And it only cost me about $1.25 to make.  Victory!

I know you can just turn a pillowcase into a dress by adding a few straps, but that’s not really what I wanted.  Me and my daughter are both very pale, and the more sun I can keep off her (and my) skin, the better.  I don’t need to introduce my daughter to skin cancer before she learns to read.  So, I added some sleeves.   I had to cut 6 inches off the top anyway, so I used those scraps to cut the sleeves, and then added a round yoke in pink.

So, round yoke dresses?  Very cute.  And a pain in the neck to sew with all those curves.  I loosely followed a pattern I already had, but modified it to be a button in the back instead of a zipper.  I think the reason people make pillowcase dresses is because they are cute and easy and can be done in 30 minutes if you are on a roll.  Mine took a lot longer than that.  And after I was all finished I had to redo the elastic in the sleeves because they were too tight on her little arms.  Oops.  I don’t know that she’ll ever wear it out of the house, it has kind of that mumu vibe going on.  Ah well, it’s still cute.

This morning Scott took her outside to take pictures (all my windows face west and we don’t get sunshine inside the house until sometime after 2:00)  She was as happy as can be to show off her new dress.

I am off to work at my little fabric store today, and then tomorrow I am headed up to Salt Lake City for Quilt Market.  I will be sure to take lots of pictures.  And I really kind of hope that I meet someone famous!  Have a good weekend.