Smocking failure...

I finally finish the smocking part of the dress this morning (after 1 month of hardwork), only to discover that the smocked skirt is shorter than the yoke. Argh what a letdown! I'm so frustrated!

A reminder for me next time, always block before smocking, eventhough the instruction did not tell you to do it! Now I have to go and think what can I do with the smocked piece. I can't let it go to waste after all the time I put into it. Think.....



Work In Progress

This was meant to be Nuha's birthday dress. But I got distracted with other things, I failed to complete it before her birthday. Sorry Nuha. This is still in the WIP pile.

Sewing goodies...

Some pictures from my sewing archives.

 My mum made this gorgeous light blue dress...she designed the pattern herself.

 Little miss first smocked dress. It was all handmade including the pleating. No pleater involved. My mum teached me the basic of smocking using this dress. I smocked most of it but the construction was by my mum. The dress was worn during my nephew's wedding. It was a dress initially but now she wears it as a blouse.

 First handmade PJ by yours truly.

Another handmade PJ. I only have the picture of the pants though.

A gift for my mum. I made this bag using the Margaret Bag pattern. The fabric is mum's choice. A muted brown heavy cotton. She loves it. She said the bag is very roomy and she even requsted me to make more!!!

Coming from a women who is an accomplished sewer is an honour. Thank you mak!

Smocked Bishop Dress

This is my first attempt at smocking a bishop dress. I used light blue voile. The fabric is very lightweight and very sheer. The fabric is perfect for hot weather like where I live. But it is quite difficult to sew, especially when you make a lot of mistake like I did. The pattern is a variation of the bishop dress from AS&E Issue #83.And here is the result.

The front view

Close up of the smocking details

The sleeve details. This was my first attempt at bullion roses. Not too neat I must say.

The back placket. I stitched the bullion roses on the buttons. But it went crooked somehow...I was just too lazy to fix it

Some action pics on the little lady...She is impossible to photograph...So this is the best pose I could get.

The verdict: I absolutely love smocking a bishop dress!!! It's quite simple once you figure out the techniques. My reference was the AS&E magazine and I learnt a lot from this fantastic blog too: http://sewnso.blogspot.com/. Laurie has the most wonderful bishop tutorials. And I'm also lucky to have a colleague at work who give me some tips and pointers on how to tackle a bishop dress.

I'll be making more bishop dresses I hope. Just need to find the time...

Hello Blog land!!!

Yup, I've decided to join the blog world...Why? Just want to try something I never thought I would do..I'm not really good with words..but recently I found a new passion for sewing, crafting, smocking etc2. My sweet baby girl is my inspiration. This is where I hope to document all the tricks and skills I learnt as my own referral because I tend to forget...

WIP...