Project Yesu Pillowcase Dresses

I was absolutely inspired earlier this year when Amy at One Artsy Mama posted about the Project Yesu pillowcase dress drive (you can learn more about Project Yesu here). So inspired that I wanted to sew dresses even though my hands have only touched a sewing machine once.

I followed this tutorial from Sew Like My Mom. I went to Jo Anns and found some Valentine's Day fabric on sale that I thought a little girl might like. I got a yard in each fabric and then the heart one was at the end so I got about an additional half yard for 50% off so I was able to make two dresses in that fabric and one in the others. Last month, I shared this photo on my Facebook page of the fabrics.

 
It took me a while to make each one but it's definitely do-able for you novice sewers like me. I am being really honest when I say I'm a beginner. My mom had to thread the needle for me and I was on my last dress when the bobbin ran out of thread and I was at a standstill because my parents weren't home. I eventually broke out the manual and managed to figure it out myself after a few trial and error testings.

The dresses were fairly easy and only mildly tedious (just a lot of iron, fold, iron, fold, iron, sew, repeat). I went nice and slow. It probably took me about an hour to do each one (I'm really slow. Other people said theirs took about a half hour so that's probably more normal). Like I said, I've only used the sewing machine once. When I've sewn in the past, I've done it by hand because it was a tiny project. I don't think I'm going to become some crazy frequent sewer but it makes me happy to know that, if needed, I can make something simple.

Here's how my dresses came out. The yellow and pink fabric is my favorite.

I tried to make the dresses different lengths so that they could fit a variety of girls. Here they all are together.

I'll be mailing my dresses on Saturday when I have time to get to the post office! It's not too late if you're interested in making a dress! You still have until May 31 to get them to her!