Dress A Girl Around the World Sew-a-Long - Day 1



Yes!! Finally.

I hope everyone is ready to sew some dresses! I really look forward to seeing tons of creativity being put to good use. My fingers are crossed that we can get lots and lots dresses made and sent in to Dress A Girl Around the World. I've got a bunch of info to share with you in this post, so I'll get straight to it!

As I mentioned, I'll have several fellow bloggers stopping by this week to share tips, tricks, ideas, inspiration, and tutorials with you. Those bloggers include: Amy of Lots of Pink Here! (one of my co-hosts), Virginia of Gingercake (also a co-host), Anna of Noodlehead, Amy of During Quiet Time, and Jess of Craftiness is Not Optional. These ladies are amazingly talented so make sure to stop by here each day to check out their posts!!! 


Really there are no hard and fast rules here. If you have a favorite method for making pillowcase style dresses, go for it! If you are a beginner and are using actual pillowcases to make dresses, I suggest using the tutorial on the Dress A Girl website linked below. I've also created a dress tutorial along with a printable pattern with instructions for a few variations. Do what works best for you! When choosing your fabrics, you can used either new or gently used pillowcases or lightweight fabrics. Be as creative as you'd like but just keep in mind the dresses need to be lightweight (they'll be hand carried to their destinations) and comfy for the girls to wear!

Simple Pillowcase Dress Tutorial (for using pillowcases): if you scroll to the bottom of the tutorial, there is a link for a video! I think this would be very helpful for anyone who is just beginning to sew.

Pillowcase Dress Tutorial and Printable Pattern (for anyone using fabric):  I created this tutorial based on dresses I've made in the past for my little girl. There are instructions for adding a contrasting fabric band along the bottom of the dress along with two ways to make the shoulder ties. The tutorial is geared for beginners but feel free to ask me any questions in the comment section of the tutorial. 

Once you've finished your dresses, take some photos and upload the photos to the Flickr Pool I've created just for the sew-a-long. Post only one photo per dress please. Next, get those dresses in the mail!

Ship your dresses here:

Rachel Eggum Cinader
Hope 4 Women International
P.O Box 74010
Phoenix, AZ 85087



To give you a little motivation to sew up a storm, we're also hosting a giveaway along with the sew-a-long! By posting photos of your dresses to the Flickr Pool, you'll gain one entry per dress (please post only one photo per dress!). I'll leave the pool open to entries til next Wednesday (March 16th) and then I'll randomly draw 2 winners. The first person I draw will be the first place winner and the second person will be the second place winner. I'll post the names of the winners here on the blog. Make sure to come back and check to see if it is you! 

The giveaway is open to international entries!

So, what is up for grabs? Check out the awesome sponsors and the prizes they've donated below:



Pinked Fabrics, run by the fabulous Amy, offers fun, modern fabrics. If you like bright and colorful fabrics, pretty packaging, and fast shipping, this is the shop for you! She's generously offered up 2 yards of fabric to the 1st place winner! You'll get to choose not only your fabrics but the cuts as well (fat quarters, half yards, or yards). 



Gingercake carries the sweetest sewing patterns created by Virginia. I've used several of her patterns and they are clearly written and include lots of helpful photos. You won't be disappointed with what you are able to whip up using her patterns! Both winners will receive 2 patterns of their choice.



Amy , the creative mind behind the During Quiet Time shop, is offering up one of her adorable goldfish linocuts to the first place winner. Perfect for adding to a quilt, tote, and more! Click here to for more details on the linocut!




I'm sure many of you know Anna, of Noodlehead, by now! Lots and lots of craftiness going on over there. She's graciously offered up her Runaround Bag pattern to the first place winner. This super cute bag is perfect to use as your everyday bag---it's roomy and has pockets on the inside!




Cecilia, of So Tei Tei, designs unique and detailed sewing patterns for children's clothing (girls and boys!). I've already set aside a few of her patterns to make my little girl some cute summer clothes. The 1st place winner can choose 3 patterns from her shop and the second place winner can pick 2. 

Not only has Cecilia donated patterns for this giveaway, she is also donating 50% of the revenue from sales made in her shop during this week to the Dress A Girl Around the World organization!!! How awesome is that?? So, if you've got your eye on any patterns in her shop, this is the time to buy them :) It's a win-win situation.

One last thing . . . 


I'm giving both winners one of my padded camera strap covers! They fit most standard DSLR camera straps and include a lens cap pocket. I'll let the 1st place winner choose their strap first!


Sorry for the epic length of this post and for the delay in getting it up but there's a lot of info to share! See you tomorrow. Happy sewing :)

ps. you can find blog buttons for the sew-a-long to post on your blog here!



31 comments

  1. Thanks for all the info! (and of course, for doing this!) I'm getting to work!!

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  2. I am going to get my fabrics washed and in the dryer before the gym tonight so I can start as soon as I get home--so excited! Or should I say SEW exicted, hahaha?
    Thanks for hosting this--I've been looking forward to it :)

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  3. I have been in a slump all morning! This was just what I needed. Cannot wait to get started on a couple of dresses! Thanks!

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  4. Thanks for letting me get involved. I am looking forward to getting started!

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  5. thanks for the info and for all the donations from sponsors. This is such a great idea and I am ready to get started!

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  6. This is just so needful and what a sweet thing to be doing! I look forward to making some dresses!

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  7. Thanks for the patterns! I will be using them for sure. Excited to begin - going to go wash some new fabrics now.

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  8. This is such a great thing to be doing! Thanks for all the info.

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  9. I washed some fabric this weekend and will get started right away. Happy, Happy :)

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  10. I love this , I will start right away excited.thank you so much for doing this!

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  11. Finished my first dress last night. Quick question, should we wash the dresses before mailing?

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  12. @Lisa - If your fabric wasn't washed before sewing, washing the dresses before mailing would prob be a good thing to do! Not absolutely necessary, but it will help soften up the fabric a bit and remove any dye residues. Thanks!

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  13. I'll add this to a blog post at some point today but just wanted to say that there is no deadline for mailing the dresses in. The charity accepts dresses/donations year round!

    The only real "deadline" for the sew-a-long is for the giveaway/Flickr pool entries! You'll have until next Wednesday to get your photo entries in.

    Thanks!

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  14. Wow! Those are some awesome prizes! I'm getting to work on my dress/dresses today! Thanks for all the information!

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  15. I love the look of the piilowcase with the elastic, but what size is this for, and what if you make a smaller size - how do you know how short/ long to make the elastic?

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  16. @Dawn---I made my pattern to fit a range of sizes,say about 3T-5T. The pillowcase style dresses tend to fit girls for a while-my daughter has one that I made her when she was a size 12-18 mths (used a 5" piece of elastic) that fits her as a top now at age 3! (dress in the blog button.)

    I was emailed a link with measurements for making dresses in various sizes which I plan to post tonight but in the meantime, here is the link:

    http://sewdelightful.blogspot.com/2011/03/when-using-fabric.html

    Hope that helps!

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  17. That is really awesome, thanks so much for organizing such a great thing. Hopefully I'll have a dress in the mail for you soon!

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  18. This will be my first big sewing project and my first contest! So excited!!! I'd love to win some of those great prizes, but I am also just happy to help out. This is a great starter project for me. :0)

    Good luck everyone and thanks to everyone for their support to these little girls around the world. :0)

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  19. Hi,
    What a wonderful effort to be a part of! I've posted my dresses in the flickr pool but only took one pic of three dresses. Can I just get three entries without taking another pic or should I take different pics?
    Thanks!!

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  21. We had a Tsunami warning last night her in Hawaii. I was up until 2 am watching the news. I cut out six dresses while watching tv. Now I just need to sew them. I have already made three this week. We will see how far I get. This has been so much fun.

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  22. My 5 are done and ready to go. I am going to mail them in the morning. I am so happy I took part in this.

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  23. My friend Judy and I made 16 dresses. They were so cute and easy to do!
    Then my daughter, granddaughter and I made 3 more! Thanks so much for this project!

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  24. So glad I found your blog and all the links.....I am having a BALL!!

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  25. We ended up with 3 beautiful dresses! Packaging them up today. . .thank you for letting us in on this great cause. We had so much fun!

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  26. OH MY GOODNESS... hopefully when you say that the entries close on the 16th, you mean that I have until midnight in my time... pacific time?? I got food poisoning at the start of the week and now I am struggling through 10 dresses in one night! lol My fingers are sore from guiding all this elastic. haha :0) I really hope I can get them in and counted. Can anyone help me out and let me know if I still got a shot? Thanks

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  27. @Heartmade

    Hey! I originally planned on drawing tonight but didn't get a chance to get all the names written down, etc (uncooperative kiddo!). I'll be doing that sometime in the morning and then announcing so you've got all night ;)

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  28. That's great to know. I have one dress done and the others are all pinned and ready for the binding to be sewn in place. Got a headache so don't know if I'll finish, but I have at least one entry. Been at this for several hours now. First time making these. :0)

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  29. Well, my T-mobile is deciding to not allow me to get my photos off my phone tonight for some reason. :0/ I gave it a try. Good luck to everyone else. Such a disappointment for the contest, but I still have 10 dresses for the charity. :0)

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