Craftinated: Easiest Dress Ever

Do you ever feel like you need a break from a project? Like I mentioned earlier, I've been working on a big project the past few weeks. It's not necessarily one huge project, but a bunch of smaller projects all leading to one big thing. And it's been a little stressful. I want to get it right, but I'm kind of making it all up as I go along.

So anyway, the other day I really felt like making something, but I didn't want to work on the big project. I needed something simple and quick. So I dug out a pillowcase I picked up recently at a thrift shop and set about seeing how quickly I could make a dress for Eliza.

30 minutes, folks. That's all it took.

Pillowcase dresses are so easy. There are tons of tutorials online for how to make them. But I'll just go ahead and add my how-to to the mix.

1. Start with a pillowcase.

2. Decide how long you want the dress to be, then cut off the top of the pillowcase

3. Cut your armholes. It's basically a J-shape. If I were doing this again, I'd make the holes a little bit deeper--I sort of forgot that I'd be folding the top down to make a casing for the ribbon..

4. Pin some single-fold bias tape along the right side of one armhole. Don't worry about the ends of the bias tape--they'll be tucked into the casing. (And don't be scared off by the bias tape. This is so easy!)

5. Sew along the crease in the bias tape that is closest to the raw edge of the armhole.

6. Flip the bias tape over to the inside of the armhole. Sew close to the edge. Repeat steps 4 through 6 on the other armhole.


7. Now all you have left is to make the casings along the top of the front and back. Just fold your fabric down about 1/2 inch and press, then fold it down again another 1/2 inch or so and press. Stitch right along the edge to make the casing. Then all that's left is to thread some ribbon through the casing and you're done. I used one long piece of ribbon for this dress, choosing to just tie it on one shoulder. You could use two pieces and tie it at each shoulder.