As I said yesterday I was in the midst of a vintage inspired outfit for Violet for Vintage May as well, but, it didn't get finished until yesterday, so...as promised, I'm sharing it here (a day late).
When I was little my grandmother used to make the most beautiful smocked dresses for us to wear. One Easter I remember her making my sister and I matching yellow smocked sundresses, it was one of my favorites!
I've always wanted to try smocking, but haven't so, with Vintage May upon us I thought it was a good time to give it a try (finally)! My original plan was to make a Geranium dress with a smocked panel, but then Violet saw fellow "flower girl" Clover's playsuit and was insistent that she have one of her own! So, instead of a smocked dress, we have a smocked playsuit...
Already, with Vintage May, there have been two playsuits/rompers made one from Sanae and one from Rachel (I love her fabric/color combo!) and, with the Wanderlust blog tour several others, so clearly I'm not the only one that thinks this style screams vintage!
I used Celina's Ash Playsuit pattern and am so pleased with the results. As is Violet...
This, no joke, is what she basically looked like after I told her that I had finished her playsuit! The fabric is a lightweight and soft cotton from Joann. Mini polka dots seemed both vintage and modern. While this pattern is not a quick sew, as there are several different pieces and steps and facings, it is simple enough for the confident beginner.
And, really all the pieces and steps and facings are so worth it in the end!
It's the perfect thing for all things summer!
Hopscotch...
Lemonade...
Swings...
And sitting in the grass...
Of course, I didn't really look at her measurements (oops!) and simply made her a 6. The top fits fine and dandy, but it's a bit tight in the hips/bum. Must measure! Oh well, when the bottoms get too short I'll just turn it into a top!
I made the options with pockets, because why not?! Plus it was an easy way to add a bit of extra color, and, believe it or not I had never made inseam pockets! To me it was kind of like magic the way they worked out (I know I'm silly!).
And, the smocking...or perhaps it should be called "mocking". I don't have any idea if this is actually how you do smocking or if it's sort of how you do smocking or if it's not at all how you do it, it's how I did it though...
I cut a strip of fabric 3 3/4" x 44" and sewed 8 lines of runching 1/4" apart all the way across the 44" strip. After the runching was sewn I pressed it with a good amount of steam so that it got extra runched up! And then I just stitched...
I honestly didn't have a real "plan". And, I wish had taken my time a bit more and had made more of a plan. Perhaps then, it would look nicer, but this was sort of a test (that worked out pretty well!). For the stitching I counted the "ripples" of runching that were in between each embroidery stitch to make sure everything was spaced evenly.
It might not be the way it's supposed to be. And, I assure you that it's nowhere near as good as my grandmother's smocking. But, it's something new I tried and I'm so happy with the way it turned out. I love that it's a vintage style, but not in the typical vintage colors with bright green fabric and a simple chevron-like design...
It just goes to show that you can have something feel vintage but look modern!
See, we can all do it, "put a little vintage in it"!
Have a great day!
