Pillowcase Sun Dresses - Instructions

Here are the instructions for the cutest sundresses for your little ones this summer - even more perfect today with all the heat in the Northeast. Thank you Marguerite!!

PILLOWCASE SUN DRESS1 by Marguerite Corbello

MATERIALS FOR DRESS

1. A washed and pressed pillowcase. (I bought mine at a thrift store.)
2. 12-14 inches of 1/2-inch elastic for the neck edge. (I used 12" for a size 2T)
3. Double fold bias tape to match pillowcase. (I like the wide bias tape but have used both sizes.)
4. Matching thread and trims to coordinate. (You need trims if your pillowcase is plain.)

MEASURE FIRST

The following measurements will help you get the right size for your little girl. This is the length of the dress. Measure from the hemmed edge of the pillowcase up to the top and mark across from side-to-side.

6 months 15 "
12 months 17 "
18 months 18"
2T 19"
3T 20"
4T 21"

CUT

Cut the pillowcase at the marks. I used a rotary cutter and cut through both layers of the pillowcase. This cut edge will be the top of the dress. Leave the hemmed end alone. You can add trims at the hem at any time during the process.

Cut out an armhole on each side according to the following directions. Fold the pillowcase in half and cut once so that they are exactly the same size.

For sizes 2T and below, cut 1.5" in and 3" down.
For sizes 3T and 4T, cut 2" in and 4" down.

Cut the 1/2" elastic into two pieces.
Cut two 26" pieces of bias tape.

IRON

Fold the top two edges of the pillowcase 1/4 inch to the inside and press. Then fold down another 3/4" to the inside and press. This is the casing for the elastic.

SEW

Using about 10 stitches per inch, stitch down the casing on both top edges. Attach a safety pin or a bodkin to one end of the elastic and thread it through the casing. Stitch across the open ends of the casing, being sure to catch the elastic in the seam to keep the elastic from coming out.

Notice that the bias tape is folded so that one side is wider than the other. Be sure that the narrow side is always on top. This ensures that both edges are caught when you stitch.

Fold the 26" length of bias tape in half and mark at the fold. Unfold it and place the mark at the seam of the armhole. Slip the edge of the armhole into the fold of the bias tape and pin in place all the way around. Stitch around the armhole and the entire length of the bias tape. Repeat for the other armhole. Tie a knot in the end of the bias tape.

The ties make the dress adjustable. That's it! You're done! I read on a website that done is better than perfect! I agree.


1 www.andersonsplace.net

Good News

Just heard from the doctor that there was no cancer in what she removed from my vocal cords on Tuesday. Bad news is that its not so much that I shouldn't talk is that I really can't talk with any volume yet. Very frustrating!

Red Velvet Cake Kit Club

I mentioned a while back that I found a blog called the Red Velvet Cake Kit Club. I was intrigued so I ordered the most recent kit. What a lot of goodies I got in the mail today. I made the apron up this afternoon between rounds with Alex the dog trying to steal various things from the sewing room... including cedar blocks (now tooth picks), bead tubes (now just beads) and fabric scraps (still scraps, just wet). In the package came some beautiful fabrics, blue felt, 6 sheets of scrap book type card stock from 7 Gypsies, a Bazzill mini photo album, DMC floss, black rick rack and some number rubber stamps from Bam Pop. Here is what I have done so far:
I made the apron which has three pockets, each big enough to use for stashing a ball of yarn when knitting. I added to it a felt scissors holder and tied the scissors on it with the floss made into a twisted cord. The album came in basic black and I have added some of the papers to it plus some red raffia I had hanging around. The rest of the papers are shown in the lower right and the photo does not due them justice. Fun for the feeble minded... maybe. A sense of satisfaction after a very frustrating day with almost no voice and an active dog... definitely!!

Sleepy Time

After awakening at 4:30 AM this morning to ensure I had time to feed and walk the dogs and do a breathing treatment before surgery on my vocal cords, I finally made it back home by about 11:00 AM. As far as I know, everything went well and the things on each vocal cord were removed. Unfortunately when the doctor told Paul about what she found he was semi-awake but he remembers that the larger spot was like a callus while the other was something different. I asked him to have them fax what she told him to me but I just looked at the fax machine but I see nothing in it so maybe he misunderstood or they won't send it. Biopsy results will not be available until Thursday or Friday. The only side affects seem to be that I am very sleepy and my throat and mouth are very, very, very, dry. I am going to try to eat some milk and cereal, if I don't fall back to sleep before its ready :-)

Rainy Days

This is the third day in a row when the chance of rain is well over 50%. Here that means you are in for many, many hours of thunderstroms that flood yards, roads and, sometime, homes plus very muddy puppies. As an example, about 45 minutes ago the dogs and I went for a long walk with partly cloudy skies and dry streets. It is now pouring again with only a few rumbles of thunder and we are now stuck at home until it clears again. Oh, I forgot to mention, that when we gets rains like this your windshield wipers cannot keep your view clear so it becomes very unsafe to drive in these downpours. What's a girl to do?


In between naps with the puppies and sporadic attempts to keep up with the muddy paw prints, I have been working on embellishing a tea towel for a swap with 19 other folk. My original concept was to stencil one. That quickly morphed into stenciling and the addition of bright trims and baubles. That idea moved into making a German roller towel with a linen ground and Schwalm embroidery. Then I remembered how much fun it was to do Swedish Weaving on Huck toweling. That idea stuck for a few moments so I went JoAnn's to see if I could find some Huck toweling. They did have Huck towels but there was an Aida panel woven into the toweling for embroidery. Here is what I did with it:


Using an acid green DMC embroidery floss I did a Blackwork diaper pattern in the Aida portion of the towel. The challenge with Blackwork is to complete it so that the front looks just as good as the back of the piece so that it is fully reversable. I wasn't as perfect as I would have liked to have been but it must be pretty good as, at one point, I had a hard time figuring out which side was the working side. And, if the threads fray and untangle a little, then it can look well loved and used is my partner's kitchen. The lower potion of the towel is done in a Swedish weaving pattern I adapted from a web site. Huck embroidery is normally done in multiple colors but I loved the acid green so much I did it in one color. It extends to both side borders. I hope my swap partner enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it. This towel project really illustrates why I like doing swaps. I would never have embroidered a towel with this much time invested in it unless pushed by the need to get it done for someone else. Although the swap rules only ask for one tea towel I will probably add some Bigelow teas that I enjoy like Constant Comment or Earl Grey or both.

Lest you think all of us n the rain belt are depressed by the rains, here are two advantages. My Brazilian Roses are in full bloom and







the Angel's trumpet Tree is also begining to bloom. Both of these plants love the rain.

Tomorrow morning its off early to have my vocal cords fixed. I'll let you know how it goes.

Toys

Since coming here, Alex has been having fun playing with the toys I had for Lady Jane and the girls. In general, the toys were from McDonalds (mini beanie babies), the March of Dimes (full size beanie babies) and Kohl's department store. Neither Jane nor the girls had ever destroyed any of the toys from these sources, though they sometimes got pretty dirty. Alex has decided to make it his mission to, not only play with them, but to beat them into submission. As the photo below illustrates, there is a definate progression in the submission process. First he removes the clothes, and the nose, in the case of the white March of Dimes beanie baby. Next he removes the eyes as in the case of the Kohl's elephant and bunny. As a last step, he then removes their brains (stuffing) as in the case of the McDonalds duck and Kohl's mama sheep. Its kind of creepy to find them so disfigured when I try to tidy up after him. Maybe this is the difference between boy and girl dogs. Girls think about playing tomorrow, boys just go for the thrill of the kill today.




Other happenings on a very wet and rainy Saturday:


Between thunderstorms, I ran out to Target to see if I could find some nice pre-made tea towels to embellish for a swap I am doing. Didn't find tea towels that I loved but I had a sepctacular time in the Target spot area, at the front of the store, where everything is $1.00. They had garden kneelers (can also be heated and pressed into various surfaces to make your own, unique rubber stamps), card making kits with great black, red and white embellisments, a wonderful 36" plus double sided ribbon D-ring belt also black, white and red (great for purse handles) and a sack of eight dead tennis balls for doggy play. I also bought, not for a dollar, a seersucker sundress from the Isaac Mizrathi line. I hope it works well for me because I love seersucker.


I think Alex has learned that biting is not a good thing. He's still so young that he really has little self control. The other night he and the girls were playing their dominance games on me while I was trying to take a nap. The little blankety blank actually bit my butt - ouch! he didn't break the skin but it stung. Because of this I have decided that I needed to start some serious training. Both yesterday and today when he seemed to be getting out of control with the biting I would firmly say no and try to keep his jaw closed. If he persisted, I would then say 'Alex, do you want to go to bed?". If he still wasn't listening, I then picked him and put him to bed in the master bathroom. We have now done this 15 times for varying periods of time from 10 minutes to an hour. Just moments ago he was getting out of control and I asked "Alex, do you want to go to bed?" and miracles of miracles he stopped biting me. I think a couple of more corrections will be needed but I think we have made a breakthrough.


I hope Sunday will be this quiet.

Free People Travel Swap

I completed my project for the Free People Travel Swap today. The good news is that I had to purchase very little, the bad news is that I had to purchase very little. I was able to use stash fabrics however, in the process of using them, I ended up with a whole bunch of scraps that I will need to recycle. I have a feeling that I could just keep going and going like the energizer bunny as, it seemed, that I would complete one item with even more ideas for another item for the swap.

Here are two photos of the contents that I packed up today.

I Iinterpreted the Travel theme a little differently than others in the swap. I believe that even a trip to the market can be an adventure. Your fancy clutch could hold a passport and travel documents but it can also hold your grocery coupons. Having a map of Alaska in the carrier could mean you are trying to get from point A to point B on a road that is only seasonally available or it could mean that its a dream destination. The whole package contains a carrier for your car, a clutch, a notebook, a sewing kit, a magic card case and some maps of far away places. Items good for running errands or taking a plane to the other side of the world.

Disgusting Behavior

I thought I had seen every disgusting thing a dog could do but Alex takes the cake. As part of the dominance dances that have been going on around here between Alex and the girls, there has been lots of growling, butt sniffing, neck biting and belly exposing. BUT today Alex took it to a whole new level... in the midst of a lot butt sniffing and ear licking he cleaned up the girls butts with a few licks! No wonder I don't want him or them licking my face.

Other news - went to see the ENT doctor today for my pre-op review. I will not be able to drive for 24 hours, talk at all for three days and limit my talking for another two weeks after the surgery. Yuck! So please don't call me and ask me how I am as I will not be answering the phone for at least three days ...A whole new experience for me :-)

Try this....

I was directed to this as a compulsive time waster site - enjoy!

http://www.notdoppler.com/theimpossiblequiz.php

Pillowcase Sundress

I went to the Spring Branch neighborhoood group today, a new group that just formed here in Houston. I had received an e-mail from a friend asking me to attend as she was putting on the program - 'How to make a little girl's sundress from a pillow case'. It sounded interesting so I grabbed a salad and went. What a fun project... made me want to have little girls in the family (just not yet).

Basically you measure up from the hem to a point just below the neck of the girl or use the chart we were given for different sizes and cut and the closed end of the pillowcase. Cut out arm holes. Make a casing in the neck and insert elastic into each casing (one front, one back) and secure the ends. Bind the armholes from one casing to the next using extra long bias tape which becomes the shoulder ties. Just adorable results in less than an hour. The pillowcases she used were from a local thrift store and had wonderful embroidery, ruffles and other embellishments on them. My friend also added several pieces of stash trim to them.

If I get pictures and the full instructions I will post them. One suggestion was that they could also be used by teens as tunics - a popular look these days. If the pillowcases you have are not wide enough at the hip they can be made shorter or with slits part way up the sides to give some extra room. Our neighborhood group is considering making them for the holiday bazaar run by the church we use for our meetings.