So, you’ve seen the photos of my completed dresses and I’ve told you a bit about my background and interest in smocking. I thought you might like to see the process of sewing dress #393 (Rabbit Makes a Friend). In the next four posts, I’ll try to show you what actually goes into composing one of these dresses.

I like to keep a wide variety of colors and prints of fabric on hand because unless I’m working on a special order, my choice of fabric for any particular dress is dictated by my mood at the time, although I do try to have a variety of colors and designs in all four sizes. Sometimes, if I don’t feel particularly drawn to any fabric or design, I’ll just open the trunk where I store my fabric, close my eyes, and take the first piece that I touch. I chose the fabric for the previous dress, To the Swimming Hole, because I felt a strong desire to do something with ducks on it. I settled on the lavender-blue fabric because it suggested water and because I thought that white ducks would contrast beautifully with the deep lavender-blue.

The Rabbit Makes a Friend dress is a bit more difficult to explain. I went through all of my fabrics three times trying to decide which to choose. I had no particular design in mind so I was hoping that as I looked at the fabric, a particular piece would suggest something (as often happens.) When still nothing suggested itself I chose this fabric simply because I thought it was pretty, but in making this choice, I also challenged myself. The rose-print fabric is beautiful–but it is also very busy, which makes it difficult to work with because it’s hard to make anything show up against it.

When I began smocking the sides, I decided that two white lambs would look good in the middle section. Choosing the right colors of embroidery floss always takes me a long time, there being so many colors to choose from, but after many minutes of looking and matching, I made a decision. With the selected floss laid out on my workspace, I put the other floss away and sat down to begin my work.

As I picked up a needle to thread it, I got a strong sense that no, lambs would not work on this dress but a rabbit wearing a pretty dress; something frilly and feminine, would better suit the fabric’s “dainty” design. Back went the embroidery floss I had originally chosen, and after several more minutes, out came a new selection. Switching my design from lambs to a rabbit made my work more difficult. The lambs, being white, would easily stand out from the background fabric, while it was going to require some creative thinking to bring the rabbit out–I definitely set myself up for a challenge!

In the next post I’ll go through the gathering and pleating process.