Vintage Pillowcase Dresses For Girls

Ok I'm kind of a weird blanket and bedding hoarder.  Whenever I find a great down comforter or adorable sheets at a yard sale or thrift store for our beds I can't resist buying them.  After all they are usually only $1.00 to $3.00 so the investment is minimal.  It is also eminently practical because I have 5 beds to keep in sheets.  

But what I really love, and I mean really!  Is vintage bed linens.  Not only are the prints beautiful, but they are better made and last longer.  But now my girls have graduated from twin beds to fulls or queens so I have all these sets of pillows and sheets with lovely prints and nothing to do with them.  UNTIL NOW!

  Here are pictures of very simple to make pillowcase dresses for little girls, and they are adorable!  I now have two little gran daughters ages 1 1/2 and almost 3 so I get to sew again!  I used to sew dresses for my daughters when they were small but they've gotten older and now I just find really cute stuff at thrift stores and tailor them to suit.

If you have never sewn before this is a perfect starter project as it is super simple.  I am still a beginner in many ways but this kind of sewing is right up my alley!  Also I can tell it you it will take you less than an hour to do. Here is a nice step by step guide from i Candy Handmade. I especially like the idea of using stretch lace as it is not irritating to children in general.

Finding pillowcases is pretty simple.  Go to your local thrift-stores and begin the search.  Also yard sales and estate sales are a great place to pick them up for cheap.

These dresses are so perfect for spring and summer because they are light and cool, easy for movement and play, and inexpensive so that you don't feel bad if they get stained.  All the while your little girl feels like a princess.

Making Modest Nightgowns for Girls from Thrift Store Finds

Almost all little girls love old fashioned frilly nightgowns, and I am always on the lookout for them at thrift stores and yard sales.  But I will tell you finding actual 100% cotton flannel night gowns for winter, or lighter cotton gowns for summer is almost impossible in the girls section.  Even brand new at stores it is hard to find modest but pretty nightgowns.  They mostly run to Hanna Montana or Bratz tank tops and short in 100% acrylic (see plastic) fabrics.  You can order them online, but that is way out of my price range!

Also a great thing about using flannel nightgowns for girls in winter is that they breath and wick away sweat, but at the same time are soft and warm.  The polyester fabrics for most pj's are essentially plastic bags for your body since they are made out of plastic.  I notice too that the few we have gotten fall apart very easy and after several washings and drying's they start to get a tacky feel to the fabric which I hate.  Flannel, however, just gets softer and softer.  Some of my daughters nightgowns were passed down from her big sister, and those were bought at thrift stores.  Yet they are still holding together with no holes or ripped seams.

So while at the thrift shops, which by the way is the best place to look for a good selection, I go to the women's nightgown sections and look through the small and extra small sizes.  I have found dozens of cute flannel nightgowns from name brand, highly priced, companies in brand new condition because women now days don't really want to wear old fashioned flannel nightgowns.  But my little girl loves them!  And with just a few adjustments they fit her perfect coming down to her ankles and wrist.  All I do is usually take in the shoulders a little and sometimes take in the bottom hem to make them fit.

I also do this with light cotton summery gowns.  Princess in Waiting loves to wear them and just look at some of the lovely finds I have made!  This white lacy gown is 100% cotton and very soft.  It comes all the way down to my daughter ankles and is not see through because it has a double layer.  I just took in the shoulders and the arm holes and now it fits her perfect!

the bottom ruffle detail

This was a small woman's flannel gown and I didn't have to do anything to it

Here is the fabric print of small flowers

here is a classic plaid with lace at the wrists and neck, but very soft lace.  I had to take up the shoulders to fit her so the neck wouldn't gape.  I have probably 7 flannel nightgowns for her, way more than I need but as they will last several years it's ok.

Ok I just found a womans one, which I love because I wear flannel nightgowns too, and that is a great price!

Making Rice Bags - solutions for keeping warm

Well winter has finally decided to arrive, and it's making up for lost time by coming in with a bang.  Two feet of snow and its still snowing.  So I decided to make some new rice bags for our family.  The last two we have are starting to smell funny and really we need one for each person and beds.  The kids just love having their cold beds warmed before they get tucked in and a hot rice bag is great when you've just come in from two hours in the freezing cold.  They cuddle up on the couch wrapped in a blanket with a rice bag in their lap.

These are so ridiculously easy to make I cant see how anyone bothers buying them.  They are cheap too.  You could even use old t-shirts or pillowcases to make them.  It only took me 1/2 hour to make 6 with both my 14 and 6 year old daughters helping me.  You can add some drops of essential oils to make them even more soothing.  Lavender, rose, lemon, ceder, or balsam fir would be good.  All you do is heat them in your microwave for 4 to 6 minutes depending on how hot you want them.  Make sure to make them small enough to fit in your microwave!  I put them in the kids beds while they are bathing so that their beds will be nice and warm by the time they get in.  Remember that we heat with wood so the upstairs is much cooler than the downstairs.  These are also great for sore muscles and sore bellies.  You can also freeze them for headaches and burns.

Sewing the bag leaving a small opening to pour the rice into

The ready to fill bag

pouring the rice in, just use the cheapest rice you can find (but jasmine rice lets off the nicest smell)

After filling the ricebags 3/4 full I sew up the hole and ready to go!  Now we have six so no more fighting over them.

The Rosebud Dress

This morning I finished one of Princess in Waiting's winter dresses.  It turned out so pretty and she instantly begged to be allowed to wear it.  I said yes of course because although these dresses look fancy compared to what little girls are wearing now adays, they are meant as clothes she can wear every day.  I certainly don't go through all this work just so the clothes can hang in the closet! :)

This pattern is very easy to sew.  I reinforce all the seams because she plays hard and can tear them out.  I also made this dress a little long because it's so cold outside.  I buy thick cotton knit tights for her to wear with her dresses so her little legs don't get cold.  She has already made plans to wear it to church this Sunday.

After she had worn it a little while she asked me "Momma, do you like sewing me dresses?".  I said of course honey.  Then she said "When I grow up and be a mommy I'm going to sew dresses for my little girl and boy too."   That made it all worth while for me!

Today Eldest Daughter and I are going to cut out a pinafore for a dress that I already made her (you can see it in my other sewing post).  I'm now teaching her how to sew so that she will know how when she is a woman.  I actually plan on teaching all my children to sew/cook/clean/butcher animals/can food/garden/shoot a gun/etc because they are skills every person on earth should have.  While I was sewing Princess in waiting sat on my lap and helped feed the cloth in.

New Night Gowns for Christmas Eve

Every year on Christmas Eve we give the children a gift to open.  It usually is pajamas of some kind, and now that I am learning to sew I'm trying to make those myself.  The boys get standard pajama pants made of warm flannel.  And youngest daughter gets a pretty princess night gown made of a soft warm flannel print with a little lace to dress it up.  The pattern for the night gown I found at the GoodWill for a quarter.  It is clearly from the 70's.

This shows the front of the night gown much better.  I don't put lace on the wrists like it says because it tends to irritate children.  I love sewing these easy little projects that don't take much time.

Winter Sewing

Winter is the perfect time for me to sew because the hectic days of summer gardening and canning are finally over and it gets dark by six forcing us to stay inside next to a cozy fire. For the past two years I have been learning how to sew.  I never learned as a girl and have always wanted to so I asked my husbands grandmother if she would mind teaching me.  Needless to say she was pleased by my interest in furthering my homemaking knowledge.  She sews all her own clothing for her  family and also has been a wonderful mentor for my gardening and canning.  We ended up having an old fashioned sewing day where she showed me how to follow a pattern and cut out the fabric as well as what certain sewing terms meant.  After that I started my sewing journey by making dresses for my youngest daughter.  These were simple patterns that were a good choice for a beginner.

My little girl loves the dresses I make for her.  One dress style that always gets compliments is an old fashioned prairie girl dress.  Think Little House on the Prairie.  I like it because its modest but also allows for a full range of movement when climbing trees or running in the yard.  It has an under dress and a pinafore.

Today I decided to go through my sewing stuff and figure out what I wanted to start sewing this winter.  I need to make several warm dresses for my youngest daughter and lots of flannel pajama pants for the rest of the family.

Fabrics for Youngest Daughter

One dress I have made.  It is from the prairie dress pattern and I still need to make the pinafore.  The pinafore will be navy blue.  these are very comfortable, modest, warm, and adorable.
  I get tons of compliments on them when we go to the park or to church.

Fabric for nightgowns

The patterns I use for Youngest daughters Dresses

I actually really enjoy sewing.  It's fast and fun and you feel as though you have accomplished something. I used to knit but it actually puts me to sleep for some reason.  Great for sleepless nights!