Bitsy's 'Pillowcase' Dress

By the time you see the end result of this dress you will realize it's been awhile since I actually made the dress.

Bitsy was 9 months old in these pictures!

Oops!

Oh well, there is a valuable lesson that I can share here!

Despite the fact that Bitsy can no longer where this as a dress, she can wear it as a shirt with pants and she can even wear it this fall with a long sleeve onesie underneath!

That is the wonderful thing about pillowcase dresses!

My 'tutorial' here is not uber descriptive, it's just a set of basic photos that will show you how easy it is to eyeball a project like this!

On of the first things you need to do is get some fabric.

I had 1/2 a yard of this fun patchwork-esque fabric in my stash.

Now wash it.

Yes, it's important that you always wash your fabric before sewing!

Once it's out of the dryer you'll want to iron it all smooth again and trim off any extra strings hanging off.

Once it's ironed you'll want to square up your fabric.

Fold your fabric in half, you'll notice that it isn't perfectly straight on the edge.

Trim up the edge.

Now for this dress I grabbed one of Bitsy's other dresses and used it as a guide.
Because these style dresses are also called 'bandana dresses' you can use a bandana to calculate off of as well.

In this case I cut a 16" square of fabric.

As much as I wish I had a serger I don't, so thanks to this handy tutorial I was able to 'serge' my dress.

Source: youtube.com via Leneah on Pinterest

I set my machine to the widest stitch width and left it at a regular length.

Then I proceeded to stitch all along the edge of my 16" square fabric.

The benefit of doing this is that there won't be any loose strings hanging out later after it's been washed a couple times.
It just helps the fabric look more finished.

Now you should have 2- 16" square piece of fabric.
The front of your dress and the back of your dress, or shirt whichever you choose to make.

Starting at the bottom of the square sew a single line (don't forget to back stitch).

Make sure you stop at least 6" from the top.
You'll need 1" (or a little more than the width of your ribbon, so you may only need 1/2" etc) from the top to fold over for the strap and you'll need a few more inches to allow for arm holes.

Fold your fabric over to accomodate the width of your ribbon.

Sew a single line straight across.

Flip dress over and repeat.

You'll also want to hem your dress.
I folded my fabric over 1/2" and ironed flat.

Make sure that as you near the seams on the side of the dress that you split them open and sew them flat.
If you allow them to both go in the same direction it'll appear a bit bulky.

Finally, using the ribbon of your choosing measure out how much ribbon it will take to allow you to tie your dress comfortably.

Place a pin at one end and feed the ribbon through you opening on both the front and back of your dress.

Tie your ribbon in a bow.

And allow your little bit to don their new dress/shirt!
This project literally takes less than 30 minutes and is a wonderful item that can grow with baby!

Can you believe that was only 4 months ago that my baby girl was that rolly polly?
Oh my goodness, how time flies when you have a baby!

Do you have any quick and simple sewing projects?
Christmas is just around the corner so I'm looking for gift ideas!
Share your posts in a comment below!

I hope you have a Blessed Thursday!