Gosh, it was not this hard with my daughter’s sundress. It took alot of concentration and ALOT of researching but I finally finished my sundress. Perfect, now that the weather is so cold here! ugh! Us SoCal people think 70 degree weather is a bit on the chilly side (or is it just me?) Anyways, it turned out just the way I had envisioned but it went through many trims and cuts (and a lil bit of swearing)! So the biggest thing I found while researching this pattern/dress was that people wanted more instruction than the one provided. And while I had good intentions (as always), my tutorial may not be as thorough as desired Let me tell you why and then we’ll get started.

1. this pattern is not made for a skinny minnie. I’m on the thinner side and the X-small pattern just did not cut it for me, despite cutting it a half inch smaller. You’ll know what I’m talking about in a bit.

2. b/c of #1, once I completed the dress, it looked a bit like a muumuu…not the look I was going for. So I took in the sides and shaped it a bit more…just so I didn’t look like I was wearing a tent.

3. lastly, damn the shirring! I swear that my daughter’s dress smocked more than mine but after a few attempts, this is the best I was able to get it.

For all these reasons, my frustration got the best of me and at some point, I stopped taking step-by-step pictures

NOTE: This tutorial is on the dress WITHOUT the pockets. Also, I will be using the words “smocking” and “shirring” interchangeably.

So here we go…

Step 1: Print the pattern. I tried to “tile” it, as suggested, but never worked. Took it to Kinko’s and had it printed for $5.71. Worth the labor of trying to piece together 20 sheets of paper, I say.

So here is what I was talking about above. The dotted line represents a size XS-S but I figured I would need to go a bit smaller than a “generalized” XS-S. Afterall, that is a big range, in my opinion. So I cut it a 1/2 inch smaller. I was going for an above-the-knee length so I immediately trimmed the bottom as well.

Step 2: After washing and drying your fabric, I folded my fabric in half, placed the pattern sheet on top, pinned it, and cut it.

Do this step twice.

Step 3: Pin the dress right sides together.

And you should end up with something like this.

***make a mental note of this picture as I will be referring to it later in regards to the shape of the dress***

Step 5: Sew sides together. I used a 1/4 inch seam. And if you are lucky enough to have a serger, serge away. And if not, you can zig zag stitch like I did. I found that pressing your seams after helps keep everything nice and tailored.

Step 6: With fabric wrong side up, turn and press with your iron the top raw edge 1/4 inch to the wrong side all the way around, and then again. Don’t sew yet as you will be attaching straps at the end.

Step 7: It is suggested in the lil girl’s version to start marking smocking lines 1 inch below the edge of the pressed crease. However, I started 3/4 of the way (personal preference). I continued to mark lines 1/2 inch apart until it reached 5 inches. At that point, I tried on the dress to check visually how much I wanted the top to be shirred and adjusted accordingly. The pattern suggest anywhere from 6-8 inches (again, personal preference)

Step 8: The oh-so-fun part! Loosely wind your elastic thread around your bobbin. The difference between my daughter’s dress and mine was the color and make of the elastic thread. Now, I don’t think that it could have the color itself that would have affected the shirring…I’m wondering if it was the different brand???

Here is where I start to lose it a bit. After pulling out the first line (b/c I thought that it should smock up a bit more), I gave in after 2 tries. It was either the different brand or the cotton that caused the “less smocking”. The instructions do not state how to end off at each row. So here’s what I did…when you get to the end, I overlapped a few stitches, left a tail, and then knotted it with the starting tail about 3 times.

Step 9: The fun part. Spray the smocked area (really wet it) and with a HOT iron, press the smocked area. The stitches should shrink up further.

Step 10: Press the bottom hem, just as you did for the top.

Sew the hem. NOTE: you should probably pin your hem but I just went for it

Step 11: I purchased bias tape b/c I didn’t want to make it this time around and it saved me so much time. Since I opted for halter staps, I left my bias tape in one piece, folded in half, tucked it inside the top edge hem and sewed it. Wish I had a picture to go along with this but here’s what the end result looked like.

This part was tricky b/c the area was so thick. I had to go real slow to make sure I caught the bias tape, plus the folded hem.

Here’s what the front looks like.

As mentioned above, it looked a lil muumuu like so before I sewed the bottom hem (which I had to trim and adjust as well), I took in the sides. I think that if you were using a soft jersey type cotton, the pattern itself would be perfect. And although my fabric is lightweight cotton, it just didn’t drape the way I would have liked and it seemed big on me. After taking it in (I took it in almost a 1/2 inch starting from the bottom of the smocked area and almost 1 1/2 towards the bottom) , it’s a bit more form fitting but flowy, if that makes any sense.

And here is my Mendocino Sundress. I am officially ready for Hawaii. We are leaving in less than a week and this was my project to complete so I could throw it over my swimwear!

special thanks to my 3-year-old twins for taking this picture (this was the best one). Otherwise, you would have never seen the dress in its entirety!

LAST NOTE: I wore this dress around the house today and the smocked area was just too loose. Despite the straps, it just did not feel secure. So I ripped the top apart and made spaghetti straps. sigh. MUCH better. You better believe this dress will be the only outfit I take…after all this work! sheesh! Here’s the revised top.

Aloha!

big sis