Pillowcase dress

I seem to have fits and spurts with sewing, there will be weeks when I don't sew a thing (but always daydreaming about projects) and then when the project cannot wait any longer, and I have assembled all the necessary kit, I will dust off my machine, and let her whizz away.

This week after promising Louise at Sew scrumptious  for weeks (40 days and 40 nights), that I would make a pillowcase dress for her great 'Dressing a girl around the world' making dresses for girls living in poverty. I could not delay it any longer.

Sewing a dress, is a feat in itself, as I have never sewed a piece of clothing in my life (besides my old school skirt in sewing class in school 20 years ago). I have only ever sewed smaller items, peg bags, zipped purses, lavender hearts, PE bags, you get the picture.

My first task was to find a suitable pillowcase, I looked in my linen cupboard but none of them cut the mustard, they were either too plain, or too smart. A wander down to my local charity shop and I was in luck.
After explaining to the shop lady about my project, she kindly said I could go 'out the back' and choose one for myself! Well if you are a thrifter this is like bees to honey, I felt like the cat the had got the cream, my eyes were darting all over the place looking for the pink vintage teapot, which has alluded me so far in my thrifty searches - but no joy.

But I did find two 70's pillowcases with pretty flowers and patterns on them and the kind shop lady gave them to me for free!

Unfortunately (not surprisingly) I made a bit of a hash with the first pillowcase, in only cutting half a dress from the pattern provided, (scrap material is so useful!)

Second attempt and I was on my way, I followed the instructions as much I could (hate rules, and I like to sew with my heart, so I tend to do my own thing quite a lot) I persisted and persisted over a few days and a few nights

And voila, yesterday evening It was complete. I was really impressed with the bias binding you needed around the sleeves, as I have never sewed with them before and I loved the neat edges it makes. I added some Hazel and Blue ribbon around the bottom of the dress, which I think is a nice personal touch.

I hope the girl who received this pillowcase dress enjoys wearing it! I really enjoyed making it!
If you fancy joining in and making a pillowcase dress for charity go to sewscrumptious blog, where there is a great tutorial to follow.

Bxx

Pretty Ribbon Pouch Sewing Tutorial

These Pretty ribbon pouches are perfect for the beginner sewer and a great craft project to do with a young child who is starting to sew. You only need a few centimetres of fabric and the pattern can easily be adapted to make bigger or smaller pouches. What is also great about this project is that you can machine or hand sew the pouches. I opted to machine sew these, as I had only a short time to make them.

I used all my spare pieces of fabric, including the fabric I received in a recent fabric swap.

We used these pouches for Easter presents for our family and friends, filling them with mini Easter eggs and shredded paper. They could equally be used for party bags, hair bands, rings, little toy figures, sweets etc.

What you will need:

1. Fabric

2.Ribbon

3. Sewing thread

Instructions

1. Measure and cut fabric (approximately 10cm by 20cm)

2. Sew a 3cm hem at the top of the long side of the fabric

3. Machine or Hand sew the hem

4. Fold the fabric in half (wrong sides showing) and sew around the edges.

5.Turn the bag right side out. 

6. Measure your ribbon along the top of the pouch and double it. Thread the ribbon with a safety pin through the hem at the top of the pouch. Tie a knot at the end of the ribbon. Or alternately hand sew a button at the end of the ribbon, tying them together.

5. Fill the pouch with goodies.

I hope that makes sense!

When I made these pouches over the Easter period, I had my girl and her two friends helping me. As they say many hands, make light work! We enjoyed giving the pouches away to our friends and family, and I made two extra ones for my two to keep for themselves.

Bxx