Smocked Nightdresses

Christmas was almost upon me this year before it registered that I had not made the nightdresses that I usually make for my granddaughters for Christmas. A hurried search of my stash retrieved the liberty cottons I had purchased at some point in the last year for this purpose and I got to work.

The only dilemma was sizing. I can now almost cut out and pleat the fabric on autopilot. I smocked both the fronts and the backs of both, using different colours so the girls can easily tell which is meant to be the back and which the front.  Unfortunately, I did not take many photos.

Fortunately, my sizing was within range - a little on the large side but not unwearably so - guaranteeing a couple of years usage. The girls were well pleased with them.                                                                                                                               In the excitement of Christmas Day I forgot to take photos. Suffice it to say they looked great!

On a mending roll...

One of my 8 year-old granddaughters has worn one of her smocked nightdresses almost to ribbons. The yoke tore and the gathers at the back came apart. She kept wearing it so I undertook to mend it.

She remembered to put it in her school bag to give to me after school last week. My new apartment is within walking distance of their school and they are very proud of walking here on their own.

In the chaos of my new sewing room - with plastic boxes packed up inside the wardrobe, I managed to find the small piece of leftover fabric, now several shades darker than the nightdress.

I was able to cut out a new yoke and hand- stitch it over the  back yoke. I then stitched down all the torn edges on the underside and cut patches to cover the tears.

Hopefully, this will extend the life of the nightdress for a few weeks - enough for me to get my apartment organised and to make another round of nightdresses. Niamh was happy with the result!

The is not the most exciting of posts - my time has been consumed by downsizing and moving - still cleaning the house, trimming the garden ready for settlement in a few days time  and learning how to organise the apartment. Yesterday two friends came to sit and stitch - a milestone.

After settlement on Friday I will be more relaxed!

Smocked nightdress

With another birthday this month so I dug out suitable nightdress material and set about smocking it for my eldest granddaughter. My standard child's nightdress pattern goes to size 12, her about-to-be age, but as I am programmed to make children's clothes a size bigger to allow growing room, I used the adult size 8.

I pleated up both front and back. The fabric is a pale pink batiste and I wanted to give it a bit of colour punch without losing the charm of the background colour. I went for blue and pink with depth.

For the back I chose a simple variegated blue. That way it is easy to tell at a glance which is the front and which the back.



As I made it up, I decided the sleeves were cut a bit deep so improvised.


I also had a notion to embroider a panel up the side of the nightdress. I found the collection of iron-on transfers
I inherited from my mother.


Most of these were produced in the 1940s and were meant for doilies, runners of table centrepieces. I chose a few I thought suitable and arranged them along the side seam.















I embroidered them in similar colours to the smocking.

The hem presented a bit of a challenge. I didn't want to use lace as in the pattern - I think it is a bit uncomfortable to wear. I couldn't fold the hem to the outside to embroider, without altering the side seams, so I folded it to the inside but featherstitched from the outside, making sure I stitched right through the folds of the hem.






I found the finished nightdress difficult to photograph.

The pink is way too pink - but gives some idea of the overall effect.

It has been well received - and fits!

Another Birthday Nightdress

Brigid's birthday is in February, and since the winter nightdress I made for her has been a hit, I wanted to make a summer one for her birthday. I have a bit of fabric in my stash bought with nightdresses in mind but most of it more suited to either older or younger ages. I dug out a large piece of white seersucker that I inherited in my mother's stash, washed it and pleated it up, using my old favourite pattern, Victorian Dreams for Girls by Primrose Lane.

I really liked the pattern Kaleidescope, a white dress smocked in clear, bright colours in AS&E 71. I had resisted making it because no mother would thank me for a white dress! The smocking, however, could be easily adapted to a nightdress.

I selected eight rows from the smocking design for the front of the nightdress. These have flowers on tall stems embroidered between the smocked rows.

 Although the pattern doesn't smock the back, I usually do. I like smocking, and I think the smocking serves a good purpose in holding the gathers. For the back I chose another eight rows from Kaleidoscope, this time with embroidered pistil stitch flowers.

The seersucker washed and stitched up beautifully. It should also wash and wear really well. I am very pleased to have used Kaleidoscope at last and to have made a cool, simple nightdress.

My mother would also have been very pleased with this use of the fabric and Brigid was pleased to have it.

Birthday nightdresses.

I try to make a smocked garment for my grand-daughters' birthdays. This year my effort for the twins' birthday is nightdresses, using some fabric from my stash.

One piece is a remnant I saw and instantly thought Veronica would like. The fabric is a little heavier than I usually use for smocked nightdresses, but seems to be crush-resistant and soft. The colour and the spots are likely to appeal.



The other is a piece I inherited, I think, from my mother's stash (either that, or I bought it in Gawler in the 1970s!) and have kept for the right garment. The colours will appeal, I hope, to Niamh.

I used the Victorian Dreams for Girls pattern - I've made enough of these now to be able to do them, from cutting, to pleating, smocking and construction in minimum time!

All done and dusted!

Blue nightdress

I have had some pale blue winter twill for a while now - intending to make a winter nightdress for Brigid. As her birthday, and Christmas here in Australia, are both in Summer, it always seems churlish to make her a winter garment. So, as I have been knitting hats for her family, I thought it a good chance to make her nightdress, in lieu of a hat.

I had to search a bit to find a nightdress pattern for a 10 year old with sleeves, but eventually lit on The Pillow Fight  from AS&E Issue 48 . It was, unfortunately, one of the issues I don't have, so I bought the pattern from Country Bumpkin. The pattern was designed for poly-cotton interlock and had ribbed cuffs and neck. I have only used ribbing a couple of times, but thought it would work really well for the openings on this nightdress even though the main fabric isn't interlock.

 I used the smocking design in the pattern, but adapted the colours a little to suit the all-blue fabric.











I replaced a yellow with a mauve for the caps on the diamonds. There was a great tip for stitching these caps - enabling the thread to be carried all the way across without reducing the stretch.

I also substituted shades of pink that blended with the blues.











I discovered the sleeves were missing from the pattern - an oversight, I imagine, relating to the size of the sleeve piece needing larger printing when the pattern was converted from the magazine. A phone call to Country Bumpkin got it printed and to me within 3 days - much appreciated.

In the meantime, I found another sleeve pattern which I adapted successfully. As my sleeves do not have the stretch of the poly-cotton interlock for which the pattern was designed, it was probably a good thing to use a dress pattern with slightly wider sleeves, as I did.


Brigid was very happy with the end result - and it is nice to give something at a time when it can be used immediately. The nights are certainly now cool enough for winter twill.

Christmas nightdresses

My Christmas smocking effort was a nightdress for each of my granddaughters. I used the Primrose Lane, Victorian Dreams for Girls pattern for all three.

So preoccupied was I with the building work that it seems I did not take a single photo of the nightdresses in the making. I thought I had taken some of the smocking in progress - but either I am mistaken or the photo fairies have wiped my cameras clean! I have mislaid one camera - so just maybe I will find them.

Fortunately, the two youngest girls liked their nightdresses so much on Christmas Day that they put them on and wore them for the rest of the day! 

You get the idea. 

Brigid's is long, a blue polished cotton smocked in blue with four crocheted medallions  (purchased not made by me) on the hem.