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Basic Pillowcase Style Dress Instructions ~ And My Passion for Sewing Them for OCC Shoebox Packing

I have shared how my newest passion is making pillowcase dresses for girls in crisis.  It all began because I wanted to add more practical items in my Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes and chose to focus on including more clothing.

I had been introduced to the Pillowcase Dress idea a while back  but promptly put it out of my mind.  After our move last year and my new "laundry room/sewing room" combo got set up I was ready to sew for kids in need and remembered Jessica's post and went "Googling" for pillowcase dress tutorials.  That's when I stumbled upon my newest favorite blog:
 Sew Delightful!

One of Suzanne's latest.
Sew Delightful is written by Suzanne, the former Dress A Girl Around The World state representative for Washington who creates amazing pillowcase dresses!  Her blog is full of information about sewing the dresses as well as stories and images of girls in need of dresses or in their new dresses.  And of course lots of images of her beautiful dresses.  So from visiting Sew Delightful I became burdened and inspired and have been busy sewing and sharing with others about Dress A Girl.  (I will be also including dresses in my Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes of course).

Before and after pictures of little girl with new pillowcase dress
Before and after--inspiring me to sew more.
One way I am able to inform others is thru a local discount craft/cloth store.  The owner is promoting making dresses for girls in crisis and I am the volunteer, promotional materials and pattern maker.  So I have this information on my computer and I decided I will share it here with you as I make the handouts for the store.  This is the first:  Basic Pillowcase Dress instructions with two simple variations.

My instructions are not for using pillowcases, but for using fabric.  But they are easily adaptable for use with pillowcases.  In the PDF file there are charts for fabric yardage as well as cutting instructions for sizes 1/2 thru 14.  The instructions are based on Dress A Girl Around The World's standards which includes elastic in the top of the front and back.  These dresses also use bias tape to finish the armholes and continue on to form the straps.  Later I will share how to use ribbon for ties.  Click on the image or the link below to see the PDF file. To see a step by step illustration of sewing a dress check out this post:  How To Sew a Pillowcase Dress from Fabric.


Pillowcase style dress pattern


Design and instructions copyright Simply Shoe Boxes.  Please enjoy using this design for your personal use and for giving.

3 comments:

  1. SuzanneFebruary 4, 2013 at 11:09 AM

    thanks sew much for sharing about DAG... we sew appreciate what you are doing!!! And such cute dresses you made!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cheryl @ Simply ShoeboxesFebruary 4, 2013 at 11:32 AM

    Oh, thank you, Suzanne!! You are the inspiration behind my involvement. I never thought I'd find anything I loved to do as much as pack shoe boxes for needy kids, but I am having a ball! These little girls are so precious and this is such a simple thing to do for them and can make such a big difference in their lives. I love being a part of that.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Pam @Threading My WayJanuary 18, 2014 at 12:35 AM

    Sew Delightful is a fabulous site, isn't it. The dresses you have made are lovely.

    ReplyDelete

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