Smocked Dress

Sometime last week I stumbled upon this dressmaking tutorial. I watched the video posted there and set out to get some fabric. I found a great, oversize print with lots of bright color. For the real tutorial, watch the video here, it makes the whole process basically foolproof. Below is just a speed through of my first run with this pattern. It couldn't have been easier; this first try took about an hour start to finish. The one I made is sized for a 12 month old, but the same amount of fabric and sewing, with some minor adjustments, could easily have made one for my almost-four-year-old.

Mark the lines for your elastic with water soluble marker.

Sew along the drawn lines with elastic thread in the bobbin.

Spray with water, press with hot iron. Elastic will shrink, as at the right in the above photo.
This part is really cool and sort of magical.

Attach your straps (or go strapless if you're that kind of gal, wink wink) while sewing the top hem down. A strapless one would be a great beach cover-up.

This one is all ready for my little one to romp around in this summer. And because it took so little time, I don't even feel bad about making it before the rest of the stuff on that dreaded list.