Upcycling Pillowcases

As a fundraising stall for the school's fair this year, a group of enterprising parents has proposed an Upcycled Clothing Stall.  This entails taking a piece of clothing or manchester that is no longer used in its present form, and modifying it to make it wearable again, or cutting it up and making something else entirely.  A good friend of mine has dabbled in making children's clothes from pillowcases (thanks for the inspiration, Lib) and I decided to have a go and make a prototype for the clothing stall.  I based my dress on the tutorial found on this blog:

 http://vintagesheets.blogspot.com.au/2010/06/smocked-pillowcase-dress-tutorial.html

I started with a vintage pillowcase that doesn't match any other sheets in the house, and never gets used.  Miraculously, 2 rolls of thread in my collection matched the fabric - how often does that happen?!?


 

Vintage pillowcase

Vintage sewing machine

2 spools of matching thread!  I chose green.

I proceeded to follow the instructions on the above blog.  Since my model for the dress is a tall 7yo, I only cut the minimum of 2.5inches from the sealed end.  It makes me think that a cutting board and rotary would be OH SO NICE instead of the old fashioned method I used.  But then the old fashioned method goes rather nicely with the old fashioned sewing machine, does it not?!?

The first cut

A short household survey on the topic of shirred dresses revealed that they MUST NOT be itchy.  The itchyness arises from the shirring elastic being next to the skin.  SO I did 2 bands of 5 rows of shirring at what will be the top of the dress, with a 2cm gap in between the bands.  I then folded the top band over to the inside to make a facing.  So the shirring elastic is now hidden in its own little bit of facing.  Problem solvered, as the add says.
I quickly realized that my next problem was that a single pillowcase does not make a long enough dress for a tall 7yo.  Oops.  Should have measured that at the start!  So I grabbed a plain pink pillowcase from my Upcycling Box, and to my delight, it was slightly wider than the patterned one.  Why is this so exciting, you might ask?  Because it meant I could gather it and have a little ruffle going on at the join.

Dress extension

I joined it on, and then, just to be a smartypants, I made the shoulder straps from the pink as well, thus making it seem like a 2-toned dress was the plan all along.  Tada!

My beautiful model

What I have learnt from this project is to (1) always measure first!!!!
(2) Pillowcases would make a suitable length dress for a 3-5yo, or a top (with shirring at the waist also to bring it in a bit) for an older girl.
(3) Upcycling is fun and very satisfying.