Hello Kitty Pillowcase

Have you ever bribed your child to do something?  Please say yes.

My moms group started again for the school year and I was on the way to drop my daughter off at child care and she wasn't too crazy about the idea--especially since we'd had the whole summer off.  She was really being whiny and I was trying to avoid a meltdown so I bribed her.  I told her if she acted like a big girl and there was no crying then I would make her a Hello Kitty pillowcase.  Well.  That solved that.

Of course, I told a friend that I bribed my daughter and she said good for you.  Then I told her with what and she thought I was a little crazy and should have started with a sucker.  She's right.  Why didn't I think of that?!

While this pillowcase isn't as simple as giving your kid a sucker, it is quite easy to make.  You only have to sew three times!

You'll need two coordinating fabrics:

Main fabric--3/4 yard

Border fabric--1/4 yard

To start, iron a double hem on one long side of the border fabric.  Then pin the unironed side to the main fabric with right sides together.

Sew along the top edge and then unfold the material, lay it flat and iron.

Then, making sure to line up the seams of the two materials, fold the large square in half to form a rectangle.  Pin two out of three of the open sides and sew shut.  (Do not pin and sew the double hemmed opening.)

Finally, fold the border fabric down matching the double hem to the seam where the two materials are sewn together.  Make sure the seams are lined up and then sew along the bottom of the border all the way around the pillowcase.

And you are done!  Your child will be thrilled, I promise.  And to be totally real, when I showed it to my daughter she absolutely loved it (even if she refused to smile for the picture).  She thought it was a blanket but she loved it.  She has also been playing around and wearing it as a skirt.  But she loves it!

I think what I need to take away from this experience is that I could put Hello Kitty on a paper sack and my daughter would be happy.  So does anyone know where I can purchase some Hello Kitty suckers?