simple sun dresses

I am going to attempt a tutorial for a simple sun dress.   I am working on making these for our church mission to Jamaica next spring.

for a size small (2-4)

I cut a section of fabric about 27 inches long

fold right sides together and sew the selvages together press seam open
then refold and put the seam in the center

at one end ( the top ) fold in- press - and sew about an inch wide casing
and at the other end ( the hem) fold in - press - and sew about a 2 inch hem

place seam in center then fold in half and
cut arm hole into both layers at the same time

insert about a 7 inch piece of 3/8th inch elastic and secure with safety pins

make bias tape for arm holes ( I use a jelly roll strip or you can cut a 2 1/4 inch WOF strip)

mark center of arm hole and pin bias tape into place and sew

                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

tie bows on each shoulder and you are finished!    Such a sweet simple dress.

Paper piecing attempt!

I found this picture and pattern while floating around online.
 

I'm not a big fan of paper piecing but I wanted to give it a try.

It took me over 5 hours to make this one block.   It is about 14 inches square.

I think I will make a pillow with it.   Way too involved for me to attempt to make enough of these to make a quilt.    I love the pattern though... so pretty!!