I also discovered the circle skirt technique while making this. I LOVE the circle skirt--I love how easy it is to do (and quick too), I love how it lays, and I love how it twirls! I didn't want a gathered skirt this time so I'm really glad I came across this tutorial on MADE (best sewing blog EVER, by the way!)
Smocking aside, the top was a pain to make, mostly because I decided I didn't like the sleeves after I put them on. So I unpicked them and made it a tank top. However, something went askew in doing so, so it doesn't quite lay right :( It's not totally obvious, but it's bad enough to bug me. I hate it when I sew things like that: not horrible enough to trash, but just bad enough to not want to put her in it very often. Boo.
The fabric was 50% off at Joann's (so about $4/yard) and then I got another 25% off so I paid I dunno, like $8 including tax for two yards of this fabric. A pretty good deal I think, especially since it's not the cheap costume fabric so it doesn't fray like crazy--it is pretty easy to work with.
All in all, this outfit is probably one of my most ambitious outfit in terms of trying out new techniques. I don't know how I feel about using the flower smocking on wearables. I think most people use it for throw pillows and such, not to mention it is difficult to gauge the amount of fabric needed to get a good fit.
This woman used a different type of smocking for a dress, I think it looks okay. I mean, it looks okay within in the context of being on a dress. The smocking itself is amazing. I've tried this braid-smocking and it's fun and not too difficult. I think if the sleeves were different on this dress (or it was just sleeveless) it would look better, just my humble opinion. But again, such a neat pattern, don't you think??
But I digress, here is the beauty in her new dress set:
Nice smocking at the waistline. Amy, you're a pro at any kind of smocking.
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