One Man's Trash: DIY Vintage Pillowcase Dress

Well, little Miss Lexi has recently had a birthday, so it's safe to post this year's birthday craft project for you to see!

I usually hand make a gift for her, and in year's past, it has always been a crochet project. 

In today's edition of One Man's Trash, I wanted to share how to sew a pillowcase dress from a vintage pillowcase.

If you've never seen or heard of a pillowcase dress, you can often find these little dresses in boutiques, but they're also very easy to sew yourself.

The inspiration for this project was a set of three vintage Bambi pillowcases that I found at my favorite thrift store. Vintage sheets and pillowcases are easy to find at thrift stores, but these are by far the cutest I've seen.

While Bambi was released in theaters in 1942, it appears that these pillowcases, which are marked Walt Disney Productions, are from the 1970's and were made by Sears Roebuck and Co.

Even though these pillowcases are approaching 50 years old, the colors were still vivid and they feature Bambi, his mom, and his forest friends Thumper, Flower, Owl, and more. This find was too good to pass up!

If you're not an accomplished seamstress, this is the perfect starter project for you. I do not consider myself a seamstress by any stretch of the imagination, but this dress was easy to sew!

Materials You Need for a Vintage Pillowcase Dress

• 1 vintage pillowcase
• 76 inches of double fold bias tape in a matching or coordinating color
• thread in a matching color
• 12 inches of 1/4" elastic
• trim (if desired)
• cutting mat
• rotary cutter or scissors
• straight pins
• 1 safety pin
• iron
• sewing machine

Once you've gathered all of your materials, it's easy to sew the entire dress in one afternoon. 

I used this Vintage Pillowcase Dress Tutorial (which includes a pattern for the arm holes), and the process couldn't have been easier.

And the bonus for this particular pillowcase is that the vintage Disney graphics look adorable on both the front and the back! So charming!

And here's a few photos of Miss Lexi wearing her new (vintage) dress. Just too cute!

And Thumper approves too!

Notes:

Wider bias tape will be easier to use if this is your first pillowcase dress.

If you think this project can't be easier and you want to make a few more to donate, Little Dresses for Africa is accepting donations of pillowcase dresses.

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