Easiest Pillowcase Dress Method EVER!!

No bias tape!!
No measuring and cutting armholes!!

I am so confident about this method that I make the radical claim that this will be the EASIEST PILLOWCASE DRESS METHOD EVER!!

Unfortunately, I am not as confident that I will be able to explain it in this blog in a way that is understandable, but here we go:

To get your measurements,
measure the length from the chest to the hem line. If you are using a serger, add 1 inch for the ribbon pocket and 1 inch for the hem. If you are not using a serger you should add 1 and 1/4 inch for both the hem and the ribbon pocket. To figure the width, I measure the child from one under arm to the other and multiply that measurement by 4.

Or use another dress that is the same size you want still multiplying the width by 4 and adding extra for ribbon pocket and hem.

Cut or "rip" fabric into two identical rectangular pieces. One will be the front and the other the back of the dress.



Serge or zigzag stitch the sides of both pieces on the sides that run from the underarm to the hem.

With right sides together, sew a 5/8 inch seam starting from the hem/bottom and up about 2/3 of the seam then stop short leaving 1/3 open for the armhole openings.

While dress is inside out, press the seam open pretending you had sewn the entire seam. The part that will be the armhole makes V shape opening. See below:

Put one side of the V under the needle and top stitch the perimeter of your open edges as shown below. In other words, you will topstitch until you clear the point of the V then while needle is in the fabric turn 90 degrees. Stitch a few times until you get the other leg of you V. Turn the fabric another 90 degrees and topstitch until you reach the top of the other side. Don't topstitch too close to the folded edge. I do it a little more than 1/4 inch from the folds of the V.

This is the underside of the armhole.
I used a dark green thread in the bobbin for contrast.
I used a matching thread for the top-stitch
so the top-stitching is hard to see on the right side of the dress.

The big picture of what the armholes look like with fabric inside out.

Fold and press your pocket for the ribbon and your hem and sew.


Then I simply feed the ribbon through the pockets and sew them into place on each side.

A Good Education

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,

and night to night reveals knowledge.
~Psalms 19:1,2

When is the last time your child's Science class ended in the singing of hymns and adoration to the Author of it all?

According to Scripture, all of creation testifies of the goodness and character of our Creator.

For a Christian, the way to tell if you are effectively learning and enrolled in a quality education program is if what you learn brings you into the state of glorification and praises to our Creator and Savior. Ultimately, glorifying God should be the end result of all of our pursuits.

Thanks to Generation Cedar for sharing this must read:

The Indispensable Constituent of a Good Education

The right theory on education is pretty important. If you get it wrong, you will ruin the next generation. For parents this is important, because most parents do not want to see their children ruined. But which is the right theory of education? People really trust the theories of thinkers like Jean Jacques Rousseau, Fichte, Marx, Mann, Dewey, Hirsch, or Montessori and they follow them. Mostly they follow the revolutionary thinker of the 18th century, Jean Jacques Rousseau who postulated a K-12 education funded by the state that would "withdraw the child as much as possible from parents and relatives." (Durant: Rousseau and Revolution, 179). This was his recommendation for the modern world, upon abandoning five of his own babies on the steps of an orphanage, withdrawing them from parents and relatives and remanding them to the professionals.

But God's theory on education is quite different than the theories that men have come up with in the modern world. In a book called the Bible, you will find a unique form of education that develops out of passages like Deuteronomy 6:7, Ephesians 6:4, 1 Thessalonians 2:11, and the book of Proverbs, quite different from that which we have inherited from the modern humanists. The book of Proverbs is the primary source that lays out this theory in method and content.

Proverbs begins with an introduction of six verses explaining that the purpose of the book is to give wisdom, instruction, and knowledge to a son. This is God's book on education. Then, the seventh verse immediately introduces the most basic constituent of a good education for a child.

"The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God."

Read more

Scripture Memory Marathon

Scripture memorization has been something that I have been convicted about for some time. Our family is simply not spending enough time and effort on this. I am not talking about this one mile memorization like Awana level stuff. I am hoping to move beyond that to the marathon memorization of the early Protestant children who knew the entire NT and much of the OT. They were called Protestants because they were equipped to protest unbiblical practices and oppression using the Scripture that they had literally hidden in their hearts.

Knowing this history, today's modern Protestants must face the reality that we are hiding in our hearts a pathetic smidgen of what the Lord has made us capable. What is worse, it shows in the way we live out our lives and defend the faith.

A failing review on the Smith family:

At the current time, we are in the process of memorizing the Shorter Catechism with Scripture proofs, and Catherine is memorizing Psalms 139 while Alexey is memorizing Proverbs 31 and about to begin Genesis 1 and 2. Our biggest problem is that we memorize passages, yet seem to forget them when we begin new passages. We stop reviewing what we have learned.

As a remedy, I need a system for reviewing and keeping the Scriptures fresh in long term memory. I am going try this Scripture Memory System. It is cheap and easy to impliment. The only obstacle will be consistency which will be on us. We invite your prayers as we train for this Scripture memory marathon.


If you are interested in Scripture memory too, I want to recommend Hannah's Hundreds. We memorized 100 verses of James with ease.

Also, I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas.

Publix 2/7/11

I am trying to do more couponing at Publix. A couple of things I have learned that I love about Publix:

~Buy One, Get One deals can be broken up, meaning the registers will ring one item at half price. That way if you only have one coupon you can get a maximum deal.

~Publix accepts grocery store coupons within a 5 mile radius of the store. It is particularly good to find one that is near a Target. Target has good coupons that Publix will accept. (This means the new PC location will be limited unless we get a Target soon.)

~Publix doubles coupons that are .50 or less.

Visit here to get there coupon policies.

Armed with this information I had a good start, and here is what I got today for $4.31...

1 Apple Juice,
4 sour creams,
1 Planters Peanuts
1 32oz jar of pickles,
4 Rotel Tomatoes.

It is only a few items, but I saved around 75%. To do this effectively you have to have self-control by resisting the temptation to pick up a few non-deals for convenience. Everything else there is over-priced, so it is no big deal to get back into the car and drive down the road to Aldi where I can get the rest of my groceries at rock bottom prices.

Can't or Unwilling

The average Joe says, "I wouldn't want so many children because of the financial burden. I simply can't afford it."

In the words of Martin Luther:

"Although it is very easy to marry a wife, it is very difficult to support her along with the children and the household. Accordingly, no one notices this faith of Jacob. Indeed, many hate fertility in a wife for the sole reason that the offspring must be supported and brought up. For this is what they commonly say: ‘Why should I marry a wife when I am a pauper and a beggar? I would rather bear the burden of poverty alone and not load myself with misery and want.’ But this blame is unjustly fastened on marriage and fruitfulness. Indeed, you are indicting your unbelief by distrusting God’s goodness, and you are bringing greater misery upon yourself by disparaging God’s blessing. For if you had trust in God’s grace and promises, you would undoubtedly be supported. But because you do not hope in the Lord, you will never prosper."

— Martin Luther (Sermons of Martin Luther, The)

With a fresh-off-the-lot, over-sized, gas guzzling SUV/truck parked in the garage, most people who think they can't afford more children are not "paupers" and "beggars". They are simply unwilling.

How Many Arrows?

"As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, So are the children of youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: They shall not be put to shame, When they speak with their enemies in the gate." ~Psalms 127:4-5 ASV

Today I asked my children this question and here are their answers:

"If you were going into battle, how many arrows would you want in your quiver?"
Aaron (3) - "At least 7."
Catherine (11) - "20??"
Alexey (14) - "As many as I could get."

Out of the mouths of babes!!

Only God should decide the amount of "arrows" we should have in our quivers, but it is clearly Biblical to desire many of them.