This Dress....

I was recently in a local fabric shop when a woman who could have been my mother's age, said when she saw this dress on my daughter, "Why that's Mary De! But it's not smocked!" I beamed with pride and explained how I had changed the pattern. She asked me if I minded her copying the idea, and I was thrilled. This is such a wonderful pattern that I have made 5 or 6 of these dresses over the years. It is from The Children's Corner and is called "Mary De." It comes in a wide size range and includes patterns for each size in the packet. For example, it comes in a size 3-4 and gives you two dress patterns so as your little one grows you are still getting your money's worth. No tracing or refiguring. My big girl calls these her twirly dresses and they can be worn with t-shirts underneath to extend your season. Rather than smocking the front, I just used the pattern for the front yoke LINING and do whatever I want to embelish. This dress front is embroidered with Jenny Hart's pattern from Sublime Stitching. I have also used combinations of ribbon and rick rack. I'll try to show those pics another time. If you're thinking about going beyond the A-line dress to a fully gathered summer frock for your little one, I think this is a great one! The site is http://www.childrenscornerfabric.com/catalog/cc7.html