Quite awhile ago, I saw a vintage Polly Flinders Smocked Dress on Etsy and I loved it. I nicknamed it the "Charlie Brown Dress" because of the color and the black rick rack like Charlie's zig zag shirt.
Here's the original dress. It was size 3 and I think it was about $35. I saved the image and kept it in the back of my mind for a future project. Eventually I looked for a nice honey/mustard broadcloth to remake the dress. I even ordered one, but it was so dark when it arrived. Finally I found a quality cotton fabric that I thought would work.
I also found a McCall's pattern from 1960 with the same full skirt, deep smocking, and straight sleeves that I wanted. Then I got to work. The construction was quite different from the modern yoke dresses I had made.
I did a simple diamond smocking design.
Notice how full the skirt is? The back yokes also form the sides of the dress and "wrap" around to meet the front smocking. There are 3 full 42" panels to the skirt- one front and 2 back/side. It's a really clever way to get the nice full skirt. It needs a puffy crinoline.
I added a belt instead of a sash because I liked it and because I was running low on fabric. This dress took a lot of yardage. I made a size 3 and added 6 inches of length! I think it has a nice "vintage" length without being too short. It looks big to me- more like at least a 4. I used Swiss embroidery and black baby rick rack for the trim.
This was a really fun project and I am very happy with the results!!
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