Pillowcase Dress

We have a sweet cousin who has eyes this blue and it's going to be her birthday soon!

I knew I wanted to make her a dress, so when I saw Simple Simon's Pillowcase Dress I had to give it a try.  It only touches her body at one point, which makes it so very cool for the hot climate she lives in.

And so simple!  Make a tube about 1 1/2 the width of the chest, make a elastic casing, add a ruffle and straps.

It made Kewpie want to twirl.  But pretty much anything with ruffles makes Kewpie want to twirl.  We hope our cousin loves it too!

Dress Upcycle: Sundress with Elastic Thread AKA shirring

My sister gave me an 80's style maternity dress. Such cute fabric, but not a style I'd like to wear. I should have taken a photo of it before I took it apart, but here's the top.

Imagine a very full, ankle length skirt underneath it.

So I took off the skirt, as you can see. I'd just been reading all sorts of things in blog-land about elastic thread and I wanted to try it out for myself. So with trepidation, I loaded the thread in my machine and gave it a shot. I found out months later that I had loaded it wrong. But more about that later.

Before using the elastic thread, I created a great big rectangle tube that would fit around me with plenty of room for growth. (This was to accommodate a growing tummy.) The usual rule is about 1.5 times your hip width is a good looking gather. I did it twice the width.

I hemmed the top and bottom with a simple rolled hem. (Actually it was a double rolled hem, because this fabric qualifies as super fray-able)

I wound the elastic thread into my bobbin by hand, making sure not to stretch it. I was using an old singer sewing machine that my grandmother gave me. It is as old as my mother. It had a drop-in bobbin, which I've heard can be problematic. But my trusty old singer came through for me. If your drop-in bobbin causes problems, you should probably look at how tight the bobbin tension is, because that is what stretches the thread. That is what I did wrong.

So, using normal, white thread on top, and elastic thread on the bottom, I sewed in a circle about 1/2 inch from what I had determined was the top of the dress. It was a little gathered, but not a lot. But I didn't give up. When I reached the end of my first circumference of the dress, I simply aimed the foot down a little and kept about 1/2 inch between my foot and the last seam I'd sewn. This went on for what seemed like days. :). Each row I sewed made the row before it a little more gather-y. Finally, after about ten rows, I decided that it was long enough. So I stopped and made sure to really end with a knot, so the elastic wouldn't come undone.

The next step was straps. I discussed straps here, and I stand by what I said. :) Luckily I have a model that I could put the dress on and see where I wanted the straps. They don't look best or work best right across from each other. On the front they should be a little closer to the sides, and on the back they should be closer to the middle. This helps them to not fall off as easily, which prevents cursing.

Then I was done! Wahoo!

But wait, remember the top?

I took off the lace, unpicked the side seams and side arm seams, used the neck facing to make my elastic facing, made a random, uneven hem and made a skirt/dress for Kewpie Doll.

I rather love the way the sleeves make it flare in places. It was long enough that I put straps on it and Kewpie had a matching sun dress. Now, she wears it as a skirt.

Sadly, I couldn't find a photo of Kewpie wearing it. She wasn't one to hold still at this point in her life.

Doll Dress

We were given this doll by a neighbor, but she'd lost her clothes long ago. I couldn't handle her running around naked all the time, but I wasn't confident enough to make her anything with sleeves or legs, so I went for the basic sundress.

Make the dress: Cut out a rectangle the width of her chest and long enough to cover her. Sew it into a tube, right sides together. Turn it inside out. A perfectionist would iron the seam at this point.

Make straps: Cut out long skinny rectangles the length you want the straps. You'll need to have them wide enough that you can pull them inside out.

The thickness of your fabric determines that: the thicker the fabric, the wider they must be. Sew them inside out lengthwise. I made them too skinny at first and after much anger, made new ones that I actually could turn inside out.

It helps at this point to have one of those cool things I got from my grandma that grabs the end and pulls it through, but before I discovered this, I attached a safety pin to one side and pulled it through to the other side until it was right side out. Now the seam in on the inside!

Even non-perfectionist me understands that straps work much better being ironed at this point. Might as well iron the rest of the seams as well, since you have the iron out. :)

If you want even more of the seam on the inside, you could sew one end together as well as the sides. You just need one open side to turn it inside out. Repeat this for your second strap.

Sew your straps to the sides of the tube and there's your dress!

I must apologize for the unclear photo of the dress. This is our normal view of it. And our little Kewpie Doll is much cuter than the doll anyway. :)