Today's Sewing: shirred pillowcase dress

Doing some sewing for Miss 9 today as she is in desperate need for new summer nighties & pj's.  
I don't really have many sewing patterns for her size so I thought I would just make a quick and easy pillowcase dress with my own twist!

There are loads of tutorials on the net for drafting a pattern for this style. I like this one by Susan Petersen from Freshly Picked.  It shows you how to measure your child to make the correct sized armholes.

This is a great base design where it's easy to add your own preferred finishes. I decided that instead of threading through a tie, I would add shirring back & front to make it more comfortable while sleeping.  It is more likely to also hold in place and not move around.  
The armholes have a wide bias strip added - double fold bias made from 3 inch strips. 
I have chosen to add them like a band instead of an edge to give her plenty of room for movement on hot nights. 
The thickness of the bias also makes for comfortable bows on the shoulder instead of thin strappy ones
The bias band housed the shirred ends giving it a beautiful finish.
 To give more length I added a wide gathered band to the bottom

3 comments:

Tiff said...

Fantastic little dress/nightie, Jodie! I haven't made one with shirring elastic for years...since my Miss 12 was little. I need to try again becasue that style would also make an awesome top! X
PS I just posted what I made for your Kris Kringle! X

A Spoonful Of Sugar said...

Love shirring - perfect for girls dresses and this one is adorable in polka dots.

~ Kim ~ said...

It's really lovely. I will have to have a go at this. Shirrring is so much fun.