Finished!

It's finished!

It's different...
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I'm not loving how the three floss colors appear olive-y from a distance. But, I guess that's true of all smocking. The detail and color of the stitches can only be appreciated close-up. If I had it to do over, I would probably choose different floss colors. Though I don't know what they would be...

Though the fabric is not quite the quality of my first one, it came together a little better. Practice makes perfect, right? Every sewing project gets a little better I guess. There are even lovely french seams on the side. This actually made the side seam construction a little easier for a couple of reasons. One, the selvage is unattractively white and spans 1/2 inch. The seam allowance is only 1/4". Also, the bodice under the arm holes is at this point already finished, and is 1/4" shorter than the rest of the side fabric. (Yes, I read the instructions and let the bodice extend 1/4 " past the back skirt pieces, but that is on the side of the facing.) So it was very easy to take a 1/4 wide pass with wrong sides together along the sides of the skirt stopping at the bodice. Then I trimmed a bit and made a second pass with right sides together all the way up the skirt and the bodice, and it all matched up perfectly. And the selvage was hidden. There is plenty of fabric to increase the total side seam allowance to 1/2 inch. None of that probably makes sense without pictures. I'll get better at this blogging thing too, with more practice ! :-D