We were on the last leg of our European adventure, strolling around Amsterdam, when we stumbled upon the Ten Kate Market. With only a few dollars of cash in hand, I managed to snag a couple yards of this star printed fabric from a little dutch man.
Have you ever cherished a fabric too much? Where you feel like no project is good enough to bring it justice. Well, that is what I did. I seem to always have patterns in one hand and fabric in another, struggling to connect one to the other. I knew I wanted to make something for the 4th of July but had no idea what. This project took me on a journey where I patterned something for the first time in months. Wow, was it messy.
Original Plan: To make a smocked top dress with a ruffled flare skirt bottom and little tie straps. So easy right? Well yes, but I just made so many mistakes and had many unrealistic expectations that it took some unexpected turns. First, I patterned a flare skirt, the bodice, and the ruffle. The top pattern is my bodice and the bottom is the ruffle.
What Happened: First, I thought smocking was going to be cake because it was just a bunch of straight stitches. Well my fabric was very light, so it cinched up a lot and was difficult to hold it flat to sew the next line. I also neglected to draw on guidelines which would have been so helpful. I wanted this dress to just slip on, but I didn’t really think that through because I did not sew my skirt pattern with that in mind. Therefore, midway through this project I squeezed into my dress and got stuck in it for about an hour till I had to rip out of it…nice right? So many mistakes… I think I’ll just list them :]
- Smocked the wrong side of fabric on the first stitch line
- Cut bodice poorly (Note to self: need new fabric scissors)
- Didn’t draw on guidelines
- Didn’t cut straps on fold
- Measured waist instead of bust
- Multiplied waist measurement by 1.5 instead of 2
Tip for Smocking: Don’t stress, your mistakes get scrunched up and hidden nicely 🙂
