A modern twist on an old classic

I have been sewing again. It has only been about 2 weeks since I last put away my sewing machine, vowing to never pull it out again as long as I live. But then I see a fabric I love, and my desire to create something kicks into high gear. And so I drag my beat-up Singer machine out of her short lived retirement once again.

This time I was actually just putting a new and modern twist on an old classic. First I will show you the part that I did not have to sew: these flowers for my girl's hair, assembled with a hot glue gun. Remember back here when I told you all about my love for EmersonMade and all her lovely (and very expensive) flowers? If you have never visited her blog, I would highly suggest spending some time over in her world. It's a fun place to visit, and you will very soon wish you knew Emerson in real life. You will also want to then quickly click on over to Nori's blog Love2Create, where you can find instructions on making your own flowers...which is what I did.

OK. Now that I have you up to speed, I will show you how I added a summer twist to these little flowers that I made for the girl's hair. All you need is a small sea shell and some hot glue. Oh my, how simple and how cute is that!

Now on to the sewing part. One of the first items of clothing that I ever made my girls was a pillowcase dress. As far as clothing goes, it really doesn't get much simpler than transforming a pillowcase, into a dress. You can read instructions here if you have never made one before and you are curious, but I promise you that I did not use those instructions. They are way too complicated for my simple brain. But this time instead of actually using a real pillowcase and a simple ribbon to make my pillowcase dress; I picked a funky, modern print fabric. It was actually a fabric that I originally bought to make something for myself, but then I chickened out and made these "pillowcase dresses" for the girls instead. In place of the ribbon for the shoulder straps, I made a sash out of the same fabric as the dress. For such a simple dress "pattern", it really makes an elegant statement. Don't you think?

Here is another example of a modern twist on the basic pillowcase pattern. This one comes from Lilly Pulitzer and has a $50 price tag. My dresses cost me $12 a piece. The fabric is Amy Butler's Graceful Vine, and each dress required one yard of fabric. Have you ever fancied up a pillowcase dress before? I would love it if you would share by leaving a link for me in the comments below.

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