Pillowcase Dress Tutorial!!

I wanted to share this tutorial with you all. I love making little Pillowcase dresses for my girls. I think they are so cute, and they are super simple. Trust me, when I started making them I had NO sewing experience. Now it takes me about 15 minutes from start to finish to make one of the super cute dresses.

Okay, to start you will need the material that you like. If you want something a little more unique, buy two materials that complement each other and use one as a border around the bottom of the dress.

Next, you need to figure out your measurements. The dress that I am making today will be for a size 3T, and the measurements that work for my little one are as follows:
Base material: 19 inches long
Border material: 5 inches long

When I buy my material, I use the width that comes off of the bolt, and cut the length.

So, I will try not to be confusing with this part. I love using this method to add the border, because it looks neater to me. Once you have measured and cut your material, you want to take the base material and roll it up from top to bottom. Then you want to take the border material and lay it flat with the right side of the material facing you. Place the rolled up piece of material on top of the border material and then fold it over. You should have a layer of border, one layer of base material, and then another layer of border material. Pin this all the way down.

Sew all the way across. Next you are going to turn it right side out.

Next press your material.

The next step is to add a seam to the dress so you end up with a tube.

Turn your material right side out and press.

Now, for the arm holes. For a size 3T I measure down 6.5 inches from the top of the dress and mark. Fold over the dress, so you can cut both sides at the same time.

Once you arms are cut, you need to make your bias tape. You can use the kind that you purchase, but I like to take some of the extra material and make my own. It really is very simple. Cut a strip of material that will be long enough to go around the entire arm hole. Next, fold each side in, and then fold in half and press. Place on the raw edge of the arm holes and sew on.

The next step is the top of the dress. Fold the top over once and press, then fold it over again and press. You are making a casing for the ribbon. Make sure your casing is big enough to fit the ribbon through.

Sew across.

Next find ribbon that matches your dress. I take the ribbon and lay it across the top of the dress (the neck) and make it three times that length. That always ensures that I will have enough ribbon to make pretty bows. Place a safety pin in one end of the ribbon and use the pin to thread the ribbon through the casing.

Tie your bows, and ta-da you are done.

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