Folkloreando.com

the prom dresses are ready

This time, Lease has enrolled the entire church to help. With an abundant supply of pillowcases donated by members, she has organized two sewing parties at the church so far, attracting sewers as young as 9 and as old as 87. Some of them had never sewn before.

Its very exciting to be part of this project to do all these prom dresses , said Ariunaa Tserennorov, a Mongolian intern who is staying with Leases family for 12 months. Its a privilege for me to help.
The tradition of prom dresses goes back to the days when women made everything needed for the home by hand. Making prom dresses  for girls out of pillowcases was simple and saved time, since there is little cutting involved and the bottom and sides are already sewn. After the top is cut to length and shaped for the sleeveless opening, elastic is added to the top and then coordinating fabric is sewn and tied into a bow and the dress is ready.

The coordinating fabric could come from the top of another pillow, so theres little waste, Lease said.