Smocked Pillowcase Dress Part 2

I finished the pillowcase dress and think the experiment worked. I am now in the process of creating this pattern for my Cheirlooms Children pattern line. It is so much fun mixing and matching fabrics that you normally wouldn't dare put together. Fabric designers are doing an amazing job developing colorful fabrics. These fabrics may be initially created for quilting but look absolutely gorgeous peiced together for childrens clothes.  I actually tend to steer away from those novelty fabrics created and marketed for children i.e. spongebob, dora the explorer and the like. I think the embroidered or smocked design placed on the fabric by the seamstress adds the whimsy the outfit needs. There, of course, will be exceptions to this from time to time. The traditional style blended with modern fabrics and technology have exciting results especially when you throw in a little imagination.

 Pillowcase dresses are a great beginner project for the new seamstress or as I have now learned, a stress free, fun project for those who have sewn all their lives. The experiment was to add the smocked design in the center of the dress and still make a casing at the top for a ribbon or cloth sash used to gather the dress at the neck line. I was also able to develop a way use more contrasting colors at the top of the dress to balance the colors used at the hemline. This process was what I call "sewing by ear". (I think that will be the title of my next post and possibly my first book!!!) P.S. This dress looks like it's faded in the middle of the front. I think that must be from the flash when taking the picture. I have on my wishlist a new camera, preferably a Rebel, so bare with me on the photography for now.

Hop over to my Etsy store, Cheirlooms and my Facebook store Chandler Heirlooms and Design (I still have to find out how to add a "button" to link there from my blog) . Of course, you will see this dress on those sights as well. I am anxious to have more designs and items to share in my store in the near future. We will work with you to customize a design made especially for your little ones. In other words, we allow our customers to be creative and we will do the work. Eventualy, we will have a selection of fabrics to choose from and examples of our embroidery and smocking designs to add to the creations. You will only be limited by your imagination. How fun is that?!!!!

There is a great resource here in my own town that is nationally known, www.t-tliquidators.com and it is such a blessing to be living in Lumberton, NC!! If you read my earlier post you picked up on my frustration of not living near a fabric store. How excited I was to find this "gold mine". Since it is a liquidator of industrial sewing machines and equipment, as my business grows I will now have at my disposal all the equipment that I'll need right here.

 I have a new friend that I enjoyed fabric shopping with ALL day yesterday. About 5:00 yesterday afternoon I truely realized what it means to "shop 'til you drop". We hit up every fabric store in Fayetteville and enjoyed several hours in Loving Stitches www.lovingstitches.net .  

Once I posted the pics of this dress to facebook I received several orders and will be working on creating new designs this week for relatives in Alabama. We hope to make a trip home in a few weeks. Since I work best under pressure, I will strive to have them finished to take with me. Somehow I will fit in work on daygowns in soft pastels next and possibly another simple sundress using some ecru eyelet fabric I found yesterday. I can see a sun kissed little girl at the beach wearing this out to dinner after a fun day in the sun. I'll, of course, share how this turns out.