Elastic Smocked Dress – From Weekend Sewing

I’ve had the book Weekend Sewing for at least a month now and while it is so fun to just look through, I’ve been itching to make something out of it.  I found this great fabric at my local quilt shop and decided to make the smocked sundress for my daughter.

I was most interested in trying the elastic smocking and it is totally cool.  Basically, you put elastic thread in the bobbin, regular thread in the top and sew straight lines.  It puckers while you’re sewing from the tension being added by the machine, but then, you spray the whole thing down with water and press with a hot iron.  It shrinks up and smocks all fancy-like!  Who knew?  There are full instructions in the book, but it really is quite simple.

The rest of the dress is very straightforward, basically a tube with some straps and a hem.  Sewing for girls is so easy!  Next time, I think I will do the straps a little differently.  The directions tell you to turn under and press the top 1/4″ twice before you start smocking, which I did.  The problem was that after the smocking, with its puckers and with the iron, my pretty lines from before were all but gone.  It didn’t really matter because its all scrunched up, but it took a lot longer than I’m guessing it was supposed to.  I’m not sure where I went wrong.

My daughter wanted the length to be to her ankles (to match a new dress I have.  so sweet!)  but I think it makes it a little cumbersome for her to play in.  Next one will be to just below her knees I think.  She’s cute though, and I will try making this dress again, it was a fun, quick sew.