Dresses for Africa - Part 2

Remember my post about the Dresses for Africa? Well, I have been working on some (admittedly I only have 4 complete and two more in the works) and thought I would post some pictures. I also promised Pati @ A Crafty Escape that I would do a review of the pillowcases I bought to make these dresses. I bought them from www.pillowcase.net. They were relatively inexpensive - though a good day at the thrift store might prove to be a better find. The shipping was about as good as any other online store and the shipping time and service were good. I had the pillowcases within a week. I even goofed and thought that I had only received 12 (I ordered 24) and sent the customer service an email about it. They (kindly) helped me to see that the pillowcases are packaged in sets of 2 so while I had 12 packages, I really had 24 pillowcases. They were pleasant to work with even in my own mistake!

That being said, the review of the actual pillowcases is that they are relatively good. For the price they are not bad, but they seem to be hit or miss. Of the 6 I have pulled completely out of the packages so far, two (the brown ones) were a bit flimsy and caught in the sewing machine when I was sewing. I am not the worlds best sewer and so if I had taken the time to use a different needle or thread that was compatible with the material of the brown cases, they probably would not have snagged. But I didn't....

Anyhoo, the other two I have sewn with now are good quality cases - nice sturdy material the kind you would get with a nice set at a department store at least. So overall, I would say they are still worth the money, but be prepared that you do get what you pay for on some of them. You don't get to pick your colors either so it is just a chance you take. You can apply the same principals to buying them in the thrift store, except you don't get to handle them first when you buy them online. I will likely buy from them again should I need some more pillowcases for projects like these.

I have also found some cute tutorials out there using bandannas to make similar styles of dresses. Almost easier with the bandannas, but I encourage you to get the better quality ones so they are not as thin ( and see through!). You wanna see pics of the ones I have made so far? I have not gotten too wild and crazy on the embellishing, but I am still just starting out....(let's also try to ignore the fact that these beauties could use a real good ironing as well!)