June 27, 2009 1:39 pm
As I said, I love elastic thread. When I received the book, Weekend Sewing” by Heather Ross (thanks, Janet!) I saw her smocked dress and had to try the smocking. So this tutorial is based off of that project.
I used jersey for this dress so you don’t need to finish the hems, and you also don’t with the terry.
The first thing I do for the dress is cut the piece of material for the main part of the dress. You can make it as wide as you want, because the smocking is stretchy. I did my daughters chest width times a half.
After you cut that piece, you need to get the ruffle piece ready. Depending on how ruffly you want it, cut it long enough (or piece peices togehter) that are the material times a half ( ex: 20+10) to double( ex: 20+20) the width of the material. Get that material and ruffle it with your machine.
Then attach that ruffle piece to your dress by pinning first and then sew or serge it together.
Next, take your elastic thread and hand wind it around your bobbin. You only need the elastic thread in the bobbin, not in the top thread. Make sure to hand wind it. If you use your bobbin winder it stretches too much and your top thread will keep breaking when you sew it. (I learned this from experience
)
Now take your garment and using some kind of marking device, make straight lines to guide you while you’re stitching so the smocking comes out straight. It bunches while you sew it so it gets a little confusing. You can space the lines whichever distance you want, but 1/2 an inch to 1 inch is recommended. I prefer 3/4 of an inch a part. You want to make however many rows depending on your garment and what distance between the lines you do. For my girl’s dresses, I’ve been doing 6-8 rows.
Now put your garment in the sewing machine and begin stitching, remembering to lockstitch at the beginning AND at the end of the row. That way it won’t undo itself at all. Do the same thing with all the rows.
After you smock the top, connect the the dress, pin and sew or serge it together.
Now to make the straps, figure out the width and length you want them. For example, if you want them 2 inches wide, cut the width 4.5 and sew it together. Turn them right side out and attach to your dress where you desire them to be.
There’s one step left!! You need to iron the smocking to get a crinkle effect. Slightly dampen the elastic part and iron!
That’s it! It is so easy and fun to do. I made Isabel her 5th birthday party dress with a smocked top( I’ll show pics when it’s her party) and it turned out so beautiful!!!
Here’s the dress I made!
I also made some smocked topped pants , too, that were incredibly easy. You can try all kinds of things with smocking. Isn’t it easy? I don’t know why it intimidated me before! Add any picture you do to the flickr pool so I can see your work!! Comment with any questions you have!
Tags:
dress,
jersey,
shirring,
terry clothPosted in
children's clothes |
14 Comments »
By Leah Martineau on Jun 30, 2009 | Reply
yeah!! Thanks for showing us this. I got material yesterday to make a bubble dress and as soon as I get it done i will add it to your flicker page. Now i have to go buy some elastic thread =) so simple, I'm so excited.
By casserole on Jun 30, 2009 | Reply
So pretty, and so perfect for the hot summer days!! I posted a link to your tutorial on Craft Gossip Sewing: http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-elastic-smocked-sundress/2009/06/30/
–Anne
By nicola on Jun 30, 2009 | Reply
thank you!! very cute!
also, you know heather ross has a page on her website that details all the errors in the book, right? sets everything straight for happy sewing, apparently. (still longing for the book, myself!)
nicola
http://whichname.blogspot.com
By karin on Jun 30, 2009 | Reply
That's a really cute dress! I still do al my smocking by hand, I guess I am comfortable that way and I'm a bit of a chicken when it comes to trying these kind of new things
But I really think I should try this one day!
By Bethany on Jul 1, 2009 | Reply
Thanks for the great tutorial! I just bought some elastic thread the other day and I'm really wanting to try to use it. Do you need to use a different needle for it?
By Laura Gerencser on Jul 1, 2009 | Reply
This is adorable!!! What kind of elastic thread did you use??
By luvinthemommyhood on Jul 1, 2009 | Reply
Ohhhh, I added you to the link luv roundup! http://www.luvinthemommyhood.com/2009/07/link-luv-roundup.html
I also finished the bubble dress, it was so fun. It will be up tomorrow
By Anna on Jul 14, 2009 | Reply
Maybe I missed something, but I read that you said you made your girls' dresses from a 1/3 yard? How does that work? I love your blog and as the mom of two girls I can't wait to start making some of your dresses!
anna_l_meyer@hotmail.com
By Theresa on Apr 22, 2010 | Reply
I was intimidated by smocking as well. But this has inspired me to give it a try, I love the skirts with smocked waists, and little dresses for girls, but always felt like a cheat when looking at buying the presmocked materials. Now I can use my own stock of gorgeous fabric, to create my own smocked items! So excited. Now, out to by elastic thread as I have never used it. I’ve only been machine sewing for 4 yrs, so this should be interesting.
By Liz on Jun 2, 2011 | Reply
Love the Dress! Super duper cute! I was inspired to give it a try, but am having a terrible time with the smocking. I set it up like you suggested, but as I sew it doesn’t bunch or look smocked at all. Any suggestions?
By Sewzanne on Jun 6, 2011 | Reply
Great Tute.. Thanks so much I linked to it on my FB page..
Thanks again for the time and effort to put this together to help others..
By Reduce Reuse Recyle on Jun 25, 2011 | Reply
Thank you so much for this tutorial! I’ve been in love with smocking and had almost given up on it until I read your tutorial and your comment about winding the bobbin by hand and that the top thread would keep breaking if you don’t do the bobbin by hand. That’s exactly what was happening to me! I’m so excited to get back to my abandoned smocking projects and try them again.
I do have one tip to add to this. If you’re smocking isn’t gathering much try spraying it with water and ironing it. It’s like magic. Your piece of smocking will pucker right up!
By Julie on Jun 28, 2011 | Reply
So, when you say to iron it, do you mean the elastic thread side?
By Alexis on Jun 29, 2011 | Reply
No, just iron it ont he other side. The heat will still shrink it.