A different kind of pillowcase dress

This is my style of pillowcase dress:


I found this lovely pillowcase at a thrift store about six weeks ago. It had the pretty flowers all over the front but not the back. I saw it and instantly knew it needed to be a little dress.

A dress like this. With a real bodice and puff sleeves.

So I cut the beautiful hand crocheted lace edging off the end of the pillowcase. Then I cut the front in half. and sewed the sides together to create a skirt. Then I sewed the edging back on the bottom of the skirt. When I cut the embroidered front in half, I discovered there were an odd number of rows of embroidery. I saved that odd row and did this with it:

It was perfect. All that ric rac is really there to make the necessary seams look purposeful and decorative rather than utilitarian. The ric rac definitely looks decorative, doesn't it?

This is the beautiful lace that originally edged the end of the pillowcase. It made the pefect hem for the dress.

The bodice and sleeve fabric all came from the back of the pillowcase. I lined the bodice with some spare muslin. that and the ric rac are the only new parts of this dress. Everything else is vintage and I think it makes the whole thing more beautiful.

Just for the record, there are 75 flowers and 40 inches of lace on that dress. Someone somewhere put at least 10 hours of labor into this piece. I'm so happy that I could preserve it like this and make an heirloom for a lovely little girl.

The dress was delivered this morning to a friend for her little 20 month old girl. I can't wait to see her in it on Easter Sunday. Sadly, I don't think I'll ever be able to get pictures of the girl in the dress. It's a little harder when it's not your girl being the model. I was glad to get these pictures, though. It will be great to remember exactly what I did if I ever run across a similar pillowcase.