Smocked Dress + Shirt
I have sewn tons of garments for my daughter, from teeny tiny rompers to delicate bonnets, but there’s one thing I had yet to tackle: a classic smocked dress. I have always wanted to try my hand at smocking but was too intimidated by all the tiny pleats and miniscule stitches to actually give it a go. Turns out, my fussing was for nothing; hand smocking is totally easy!
With just a few well-placed stitches I was able to check this off my sewing to-do list without a single new gray hair. And I am so glad I did! The intricate puckers and pleats of the honeycomb smocking add such fascinating and beautiful detail to this otherwise simple garment.
If, like me, you’re a bit of a smock-o-phobe, our new Smocked Dress + Shirt Pattern is the perfect place to start. It includes a Smocked Dress pattern for sizes 12 months to 6 years and a Smocked Shirt pattern for sizes 12 months to 10 years. Full-color photographs and instructions walk you through every step, from cutting the fabric and marking the smocking grid right down to the very last hem. The Smocked Dress + Shirt Pattern is no longer available for purchase. Please contact customerservice@purlsoho.com for assistance.
Materials
To create our Smocked Dress + Shirt, you will need….
- 1 1/2 yards of Kiyohara’s lightweight cotton fabric
- One skein of embroidery floss
- Two embroidery needles
- A spool of 100% cotton thread, and
- An 18 mm Bias Tap Maker
Update 2024: You can explore our current collection of beautiful fabrics and supplies on our page of Sewing Tools + Notions!
darling girls, darling dresses!
That smocking lined up with the gingham check is genius!! Love it!
I maybe telling my age, but we learned how to smock in Home EC class. It was beautiful then, it is still beautiful today!
I maybe telling my age, but we learned how to smock in Home EC class. It was beautiful then, it is still beautiful today!
I'm totally phobic! Or at least I was… I'm on it. THANK YOU!!
So cute. I think the pattern would look good with a polkadot fabric too. Something like this: http://pinterest.com/pin/561331541025365262/
Now that I've learned to smock on my sewing/embroidery machine, guess I'll take a stab at hand smocking. My mother was
a smocker and I think that intimidated me.
wonderful way to teach what I thought was an intimidating sewing craft. Thankyoy
אתר יפה וברור.
How much fabric do I need? It says 1 1/2 yards on the pattern. Is that for all sizes from 12 months to 10 years?
Hi Lynn –
This is a great question. We included 1 1/2 yards of fabric in the kit since this is enough fabric to make the project in any size. However, if you are making the shirt or dress in the 12 or 18 month sizes, you can do it with 1 yard.
I hope this helps!
-Corinne
Hi, I just bought this kit and have started on the smocking. I was hoping you could help me with a problem!
I am using the gingham fabric, so I started the smocking two full squares in from the armhole, as instructed. I have come to the end of the first smocking row, and the instructions say to stop two full squares before the armhole. The problem is that I can only stop either three full squares before the armhole, or one full square. I’m afraid the smocking is now going to be off-center. What do you recommend? Thank you!
Hello Mary Anne –
I am so sorry you are having trouble with this pattern! That sounds very frustrating. Can you tell me what size you are working on and I will check out the math to see what the trouble is.
For your current project, I recommend stopping the smocking at the three squares before the armhole edge. When you are finished smocking, you can then re-cut your armhole and side edge by one additional square length to accommodate the change. This will keep the smocking design centered, and because this garment is designed with a bit of ease, taking the side edge in by this 1/2 inch shouldn’t affect the overall fit.
I hope this helps, and sorry again about the trouble. I hope by taking a look at it myself for your specific size I’ll be able to work it out!
-Corinne
Thanks so much, Corinne! It was only a problem for me on one piece of fabric, so I must have cut it wrong somehow. I ended up doing a fake smock stitch at the end of the odd rows to keep the design centered. I just made a matching stitch at the next square, but didn’t smock it. I’ll make that the back of the dress and it’s no big deal. The rest of the pattern went fine. Thanks again!
Hi Mary Anne –
I’m so glad you were able to work it out, and it sounds like you came up with a great solution! Thank you for letting me know!
-Corinne
Hi! I’m a beginning sewer trying out this pattern and I’m already stuck on the first step after cutting where it asks for a 1/4″ hem before folding over. How do I do that – is this a double fold hem or do I fold just once? A how much fabric do I fold over to get a 1/4inch hem?
Or do you have a tutorial to point me to?
Thanks!
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks for writing in! To create a 1/4″ hem, you will fold the fabric towards the wrong side 1/4″ and iron flat. Then, fold your fabric toward the wrong side again, this time making sure that the total amount of fabric folded up matches the first fold and iron flat. You have now created a 1/4″ hem!
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
Absolute beginner here! Should I the fabric before starting?
Hi Maura,
Thanks for writing in! We do recommend washing the fabric before you begin. I would suggest washing it as you would the finished product, being sure to iron it before you begin!
Happy sewing!
Cassy
Help, I’m not not understanding the smocking. I don’t know what what I’m doing wrong all of my row just smushes together, no spaces.
Hi Leticia,
Thanks for reaching out! Would it be possible for you to send up images of your work (back and front) to [email protected] ? It would certainly be a bit easier to diagnose what the issue might be if we could see your work!
Best,
Cassy
How do you calculate how wide the fabric for the smocking needs to be since the pleats shrink the width? Is there a formula based on pleat size, etc.? I’m having trouble. I’ve already cut the pieces too small once and I want to get it right this time.
Hi Emily,
Thanks for writing in! There is not a formula that will give you the size of the fabric that you will need to cut. The width of the fabric that you need is dependent on the number of pleats, the size of the finished item and the size of the pleats that you will be making. For this this lovely little pattern, we do have a cutting guide for each size that we provide. If you are trying a size that we do not have, you can use measurements and the pleat lay out that we provide to give you an idea of how to expand to a larger size. This will certainly take a bit of trial and error but I find that trying things out in real size on paper can be very helpful!
Best,
Cassy
How much ease would you recommend? I am planning dresses for a 2 year-old with 20″ chest and 4 year-old with 22″ chest.
Thank you,
Linda
Hi Linda,
Thanks for writing in! I think two to three inches of ease would be sufficient and leave a little room to grow. Based on the measurements you provided, our 2-3 Years size would have three inches of ease, and our 4-5 Years age would have two inches of ease.
I hope that helps!
Julianna
Hello, I am not able to buy the pattern for this beautiful dress, is it still available?
Hi Diana,
Thank you for writing in! It turns out the pattern was temporarily unavailable, but we have corrected the issue and updated the links in the post! You can now purchase the PDF by clicking here.
Best,
Julianna
Hi,
I have a 5 years old. When I measure the chest size she is about 26″ (she is quite tall). It seems to be that ifI use size 6 years, this might be too tight. What size would you suggest using?
Thanks,
Hello Cristina,
Thank you for reaching out! I’m tempted to suggest making the 7-8 size. When it comes to making things for kids I always make things sized with a little room to grow.
I hope this helps and happy sewing!
-Marilla
I would like to make this pattern. When I try to get the details of the gingham, specifically the size of the gingham checks, I can’t seem to locate it. The details say large gingham. Is this 1 inch?? Thank you. I am very excited to try this pattern and want to be sure that I buy the correct fabric
Hi Alison,
Thanks for writing in! Unfortunately we no longer carry Kiyohara Gingham, but the fabric we used had 3/8″ gingham checks.
I hope that helps!
Julianna
Hi! I’m having trouble cutting the armhole. I measured and my pattern is the right size. 2.5 inches on the raw edge side and the sample square measures one inch but since I’ve folded the cloth down 3.25 inches I have this funny little strip left at the top of the dress when I cut around the pattern piece… not a smooth curve as shown in the photos.Please help! Also it’s good to know about folding the top edge over twice for hemming as a previous poster pointed out… thanks!
Hi Crista,
Thanks for reaching out! Please send our customer service team a photo of your work to [email protected] and they can trouble shoot further from there!
Warmly,
Gianna