Pillowcase fun

Recently, my dad's side of the family had a family reunion and I just could not resist making some matching outfits for the cousins.  The reunion took place in a gorgeous oceanfront town on Cape Cod so I went with a sea theme for one set of outfits. 

There were three girl cousins that would wear the pillowcase dresses (with 6 total cousin outfits) so I appliqued two of them with lobsters and one with a starfish.

 

Pillowcase dresses are so fun to make because the variations are endless!!  One thing I did with this dress that came out really well is make the casing for the ribbon fold to the front.  Normally, you fold the casing to the inside of the dress and only see the main dress fabric, but instead I chose to make the casing in the coordinating red and white fabric and use it to pull the dress all together.

  

My daughter Grace did not get a pillowcase dress because she is a sneaky little girl and would untie the dress all night long so I chose a different style for her but used the same theme.

I love my babies

For Rebekah

I have a friend named Autumn who has been a dear friend for many years.  We are raising our young kids at the same time and her friendship has been such a blessing to me.  Autumn has two boys and just recently had a baby girl named Rebekah.  I made these gifts for her and I think they came out really well.

 

I am all for making burp cloths with the baby's initial on it so that you can them to places like church nursery or daycare and not have them mixed up with other children's burp cloths.  Childcare workers have such a hard job taking care of all those babies and trying to keep track of whose baby paraphernalia goes with which baby.  Why not make it easier for them by having your stuff monogrammed?

 

Want to see some other baby gift ideas???

Strawberry picking

I saw this dress recently online while I was searching for strawberry appliqued dress ideas.

I instantly fell in love with it and vowed to make it for cheaper than $37!  I realize that the $37 is for materials and profit.  I made two of these dresses and the materials for both dresses cost $18.  This is my version... I only put one picture up because the girls' dresses are identical.

What do you think?  I think the girls look precious!!!

 A few thoughts on pillowcase dresses:

• pillowcase dresses are EASY to make.  These are great dresses to sew for beginners.  There are a bunch of dress tutorials online - both videos and written ones.
• pillowcase dresses start off very plain since you are using one fabric so try fun accents and embellishments such as: use a contrasting band of fabric on the bottom, rickrack along the hemline or neckline, use contrasting fabric for the bias binding on the armpits and neckline, applique a shape or your child's initial, find a fun contrasting or accent ribbon, etc.  The possibilities are endless!!
• when you wash these dresses, make sure you tie the ribbons to each other or you risk the ribbons pulling out of the casings.