Seams to Me ~ Smashing Smock

Rae is organizing Spring Top Week. It started yesterday with her tutorial on Sew, Mama, Sew! Her top is really cute and has just been added to my ever growing list of things to sew.

{Just Smashing}

My first Spring Top was made using the Smashing Smock pattern from Anna Maria Horner's book Seams to Me. Even though I've had this book since Christmas, this is the first thing I have made from it. Actually, I thought this might be the only thing I wouldn't make. I just didn't care for smocks in general and I think the fabrics used in the sample in the book turned me off. While perusing through the flickr group I saw several people had made it from thirfted sheets and I really liked the way they turned out. Earlier this week I had some free time so I decided to make it with a recently purchased thrifted sheet.

I love this pattern. It was fairly easy to put together and it looks really cute, if I do say so myself. I like how loose and airy it is. It is perfect for the sizzling summers here.

{French seam horizontal with the bottom hem to the left}

I usually wear a size small, but I wanted to make sure this was loose so I added about 1/2" to each piece and I am glad I did. The top of the top fits nicely. I think it would have been a little too small without the extra space. I probably didn't need the extra on the sides of the main pieces, but it's OK. I don't have a serger, so I used french seams on the sides (for the first time). This seam is going to go into many more garments. It just finishes the seams so nicely.

{The back}

The fabric is an off white with a little diamond/leaf pattern made with little red dots. The button on the back is a slightly shimmery gray that I got in a sewing box that came with an old sewing machine I got for $20 at a flea market last year.

I already have plans to make another Smashing Smock from a delightfully lovely sea green sheet I bought yesterday. Next time I am going to make it into a summer dress. I can't wait!

I also finished my project for the Itching 2B Stitching Swap, but I want to make sure my partner gets it before I post pictures of it. More of those are to come, too, with one alteration, which I will share later, but can't now because it will give away what I made for her.

In other Anna Maria Horner news, we spent the day at our booth in our local arts market (like a farmer's market, but for artists and other handmade things) for the first time. I wore this top today and we made our first sale to a lovely girl who was carrying a sweet messenger bag she made from Drawing Room fabric. I complimented her on it right away, which I think cemented the deal. She bought a concrete ring!