This is the pillowcase dress I made for Ella on her birthday. This was my first attempt and now I am a little better at it. I know to use thicker ribbon and hem. Also, I stitched the ribbon ends of the dress after gathering- Don't do this. As your child grows so can the dress if you leave it open.
I was told about these dresses by my friend Angie. These dresses run anywhere from $20-$50. Crazy to think somebody took a two dollar pillow case and a two dollar roll of ribbon and made forty six dollars. Even if you can not sew you can make one of these dresses. If you can sew a straight stitch even better. You don't have to have a pillowcase, just take a little bit of fabric and sew or iron stick the two sides. If using a pillow case cut the closed edge. Then take your fabric and fold left side to right side and cut a half U shape for the arms. Unfold and make a hem along the bottom if you are not using a pillowcase. It looks best to me when the hem is about 3inches or thicker. The most detailed part is simply placing ribbon on the top and gathering.
Take the first side of fabric and fold down over the ribbon. Sew or iron stitch the ribbon inside the fold. Make sure not to sew onto the ribbon. You will do the other side the same way. Gather the front and back and tie a bow at the shoulders.
You can paint or stitch onto the front. If you know how, you could embroider your child's initials onto the front. Take it to a shop and have them do it for $8. You still will come out cheaper than buying one. Hope I saved you some MOOLA. :)
