I Made a Hillhouse Home Copycat Nap Dress

After playing off every cent of my student loans, back in 2019, I guess you could say “old habits die hard”. I’ve trained myself to be overly frugal, which is how I Made a Hillhouse Home Copycat Nap Dress for (roughly) $5 from an old duvet cover. Sometimes I can’t tell if I’m cheap or a genius. Maybe I’m a cheap genius?

Anyway, I made this dress. I’m really proud of it and can’t wait to tell you about it.

To fast track my loan payments and become debt free, I was on a super tight budget. Now, I’m on a new budget because I’m saving for my future. So, I’m adapting some old habits. One being: never pay full price for clothing.

I used to do a lot of thrift flipping and I got good at sewing. Since I’ve been having a tough time finding dresses I love, at the right price for my new budget, I decided it would be a really fun challenge to make my own summer wardrobe this year. If Summer ever shows up… looking at you, Seattle!

I Made a Hillhouse Home Copycat Nap Dress

Table of Contents

I Made a Hillhouse Home Copycat Nap Dress

Now, onto the dress! I loved making this copycat. Sewing is therapeutic for me and, if you think about it, it’s just one big puzzle stitched together. I had a lot of fun recruiting my family and friends on their opinions on the making of this dress.

As you can see above, the Hillhouse Home Nap Dress looks a bit different. It technically has three large ruffle panels at the bottom of the dress. I had every intention of making it exactly like the original but then decided against it when I asked instagram and took a poll. So, I only have 1 extra large tier ruffle at the bottom.

Final thoughts are at the end!

What I used

I’ll do a breakdown of pricing for each, to explain how I got to my cost.

Fabric

Normally I would go to JoAnn’s or a thrift store to find fabrics. I actually had a lovely printed cotton fabric I bought last year that I was going to use, but, when I saw this old duvet in the free pile in my building… I jumped on it.

You read that right. This fabric was free because it’s an old duvet cover. It’s also incredibly soft, because it’s bedsheets.

After a good wash and tearing apart, I was SO excited to repurpose these sheets. The label on the duvet said it’s from Target’s Spring 2010 collection. It’s such a beautiful print and I ended up using the inside of the fabric because I like how it looked more watercolored than the more vibrant side.

Cost: Free

Thread

I used three types of thread:

All-purpose white polyester (roughly $5.32/400 yards) – 150 yards = $1.99
A white elastic thread (roughly $9.99/547 yards) – 100 yards = $1.82
4 spools of serger thread (roughly $14.99/12,000 yards) – 100 yards = $.13

I already owned the all-purpose and the serger cones, but I did invest in a large elastic thread spool from amazon.

Average Cost for project: $3.94

Machines

1960s Kenmore Sewing Machine – that my mom bought for me at a garage sale in the late 90s. She paid $25 for it… the best money she’s ever spent.

Brothers 1034D Lockstitch Serger – that I recently purchased from JoAnn’s Fabric. This was a spendy investment and this is my second project using it. So, I do want to tack on some project tax for it.

Project tax: $1.50

Time, Energy & Commitment

I didn’t use a pattern for this project. In fact, I used a tutorial video from Lauren Johnson’s youtube channel. She’s one of my favorite youtubers that I subscribe to. She’s so incredibly descriptive in her videos and really made sewing fun again. I’m convinced we’d be friends!

Check out her video: Easy Shirred Dress.

It took me about 3 days to make this dress because I have a full-time job and being hunched over for long periods of time isn’t healthy for anyone. I made a few mistakes along the way but did manage to add pockets!

Cost: Priceless

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Final Thoughts

I’m so happy I recruited my family & friends on instagram to help me with this dress. I loved taking polls and seeing everyone’s reactions when I was done… and just in time for my birthday!

The midi length ended up being perfect for my 5’3 frame and I’m really happy I didn’t add the extra tiers. I’m also thrilled with the pockets! I made them so big I can put a mass market book in them, and snacks.

All in all, I think I might make another one but with all three tiers. Though, I’d want to find the perfect fabric.

Anyway, this dress is $125 on the Hillhouse Home website. You can get a $20 off coupon using this link. However, my lovely little unique dress is one of a kind and I love that. I also love that it cost around $5 to make.