Vintage Pillowcase As a Smocked Toddler Dress

 This was such a pretty vintage pillowcase with lovely pink, blue, and green hand embroidery! Just check out that gorgeous hemstitching on the hem.  Love it!  (Click on the photos to enlarge.)

 I had no one in mind when I found this beauty in an antique store in St. Petersburg earlier this summer but it 'called to me' and I decided to play with it.  I wanted to do something a little different with this one so I began looking through my AS&E collection (Australian Smocking and Embroidery magazines and books) for inspiration.  I found it in Designer Smocking for Tots to Teens.  I took the "Trendy Tot" halter top and lengthened it so that it would be a little above the knee sundress.

 I just used a simple trellis smocking design using the colors in the hand work at the bottom of the pillowcase. Then I added some blue flowers below the smocking.  I had some lovely pink micro check that went well with the pink in the embroidery and used that for the bias binding and ties.  I wish I had taken a picture of the back but it has a casing with elastic.  The bodice is lined with some of the pillowcase fabric that was left.

 I used the remaining pillowcase scraps to make a little sun bonnet.  I first drew a little line of flowers like those in the pillowcase and then traced the design onto the traced triangle shapes for the hat.  I again hand embroidered the little flowers using the same color floss as that in the pillowcase.  As you can see, I alternated the little embroidered wedges with more of the pink micro check.  The panties were made using a pattern in AS&E #53.  It is my 'go to' pattern for full panties.  I loved the ensemble and had intended to put it in my 'Grandmother's hope chest' but I took it to show one of the hairdressers at my favorite salon.  (He had spotted the stack of vintage linens, thought of me, and told me to go to the antique store where I purchased this pillowcase and several others.)  It caused a bit of a stir in the salon and I sold it within minutes.  (Quite a  wonderful surprise!)  I was in the midst of buying all those extra things a college girl needs/wants for her dorm room for my sweet daughter and was glad to sell it.  One of these days I will recreate the ensemble using another pillowcase for me to save.

All pictures are clickable to enlarge.