Another UFO bites the dust!

Yes, that makes 2.5 UFOs (my half goes to my swiss dot bishop, which I’ve made good progress on and should finish later this week) that I’ve completed in the last two weeks. Feels great, I tell yah!

This is “Flower Power” from Designer Smocking for Tots to Teens again. This is my second time making this pattern this spring and it still looks nothing like the one in the book because I keep playing with it, changing up the fabrics and colours each time. 🙂 The first time, I made it in a red and white dot, with dark navy smocking. This time, I used a soft poly-cotton floral and a bit of bright green rick-rack to create a sweet pair of warm weather pajamas.  Rick rack and floss were both stash; the fabric and the little red buttons were new.

The knickers are also a Country Bumpkin pattern.  They’re from “Beautiful Bishops” and they were very easy to make. They’re actually cut on the cross-grain. I know, my bad. But I got this fabric off the remnant table and there was only 1.1m. There was no way I could eke out enough fabric for the top and bottom if I didn’t fudge the layout a bit. Given the randomness of the print design, I don’t think it’s noticeable at all and they’re pjs.  There are times and places to fight for fine sewing.  This ain’t one of ’em!

Of course, Stanley is hulking in these size 2 pjs.  I had to squeeze them onto him and you can see the areas where it pulls tight across the shoulders.  On Ellie, these should fit just fine.

The smocking is the one from the book and it’s just a series of simple trellis diamonds. Quick to work. I skipped all the bullions and embroidery because well, like I said before, these are pajamas and the fabric was busy enough that I didn’t think it looked empty without it.

I did a very narrow rolled hem along the top and bottom of the top after I passed it through my pleater. I flattened out the pleats and then sewed down the green trim. If I was doing it again, I’d probably not add the rick-rack to the top edge. It added a lot of weight to the ruffled edge and given that it had a marked tendency to stretch (I counteracted that by backsmocking very tightly), it might have been wiser to skip it. But I like the effect all the same and it was worth it to experiment.

I think this top really offers a ton of options and I think I’ll probably try my hand at a few more versions next summer, too.