A Scrap Happy Smock – February 2021
Darn!
Two years ago my very favourite linen shirt was wearing out, so I darned the holes, then darned the darns. Sigh. At some point or other it became so worn out in so many places, I decided to do a lovely Boro-style patch like my friend up the hill does (Onesmallstitch.wordpress.com). I found some patches, pinned them into place, but it seemed I could never find a moment to begin, and the shirt sat accusingly in my mending pile for another year.
Recently I decided to go in a totally different direction.
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Embroidery
It was no problem to get started on a doll-clothes project, and since doll clothes pattern pieces are very small, I easily avoided the worn out areas. The book Tiny Wardrobe has a pattern for a sweet little linen dress with embroidered sleeves, and to fit Hitty I lengthened the sleeves by a scant 1/2 an inch.
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Diluted white glue
I outlined the pattern pieces in diluted white glue before cutting them out since I didn’t have any fray-stopping liquid as specified in the book instructions.
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Scrap!
Since this is a Scrap-happy post, I thought I should use a genuine scrap and not just a rag…this purple print is from the suitcase of fabric scraps I used last month…
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neckband
…I used it both for the neckband…
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hem facing
…and for the hem facing (the book has the raw edge of the hem just turned up once, but I like a more finished look).
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Vanilla’s Smock
Here is the finished smock (without actual smocking around the neckline as it suggests in the book).
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Needs a button
So far, Vanilla is pinned into her smock, but I will get around to adding a button at some point!
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Embroidered Sleeves
We like it!
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ScrapHappy is a group of bloggers using up scraps of anything – no new materials…Anything made of genuine scraps is eligible, and posts come out once a month on the 15th! If you like the idea and want to join the group, contact Kate or Gun through their blogs (links below).
Here are the links for other ScrapHappy people – headed by Kate and Gun, who devised and run the group:
Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Tracy, Jill,
Claire, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Kerry, Claire, Jean, Jon, Hayley, Dawn,
Gwen, Bekki, Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin (me!),
Vera, Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2 and Noreen
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Tracy, Jill,
Claire, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Kerry, Claire, Jean, Jon, Hayley, Dawn,
Gwen, Bekki, Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin (me!),
Vera, Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2 and Noreen
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Quimper Hittys 
A tiny treasure of a ‘frock’ with lovely details.
I keep meaning to try boro patches on my husband’s jeans before they become too indecent but haven’t got round to it yet.
Thanks! I don’t know why but I just couldn’t get started on the Boro…another project will have to let me know when the right time is to start on that.
This is a magnificent article of clothing for Vanilla, Kjerstin. I highly admire all the steps in this process, from your wearing that favorite shirt to Vanilla’s wearing a conglomerated piece from it. It reminds me very much of a purple corduroy dress I made from the Folkwear Black Forest Smock pattern years ago. That dress covered a number of pregnancies and is now part of what I call my healing (corduroy) quilt-pieces of my children’s corduroy clothes of long ago as well as a couple corduroy dresses that I wore during pregnancy.
Thank you Becky, I used my corduroy maternity dress for making rag rugs – they please me to no end when I see them around the house! I love the idea of healing corduroy quilt-pieces, I bet they are lovely.
so cute! and I’m admiring the narrow neat binding around the neckline!
Thanks – that old cotton is a very nice light weight, which made it easy to fold and stitch! I love fabric that stays where it is supposed to while it is is being stitched.
those sleeves are a work of art, such tiny stitches. All the Hittys in the cupboard will be demanding a new smock. Thanks for the up-hill link – a bit like Jack and Jill but maybe to fetch a snow shovel!
Thanks very much – I think there is enough of this Linen to make them all smocks, but I might have a plan for the remaining fabric 🙂
Beautiful tiny work! A comfortable, soft linen smock with elegant sleeves is a treat for a Hitty. That tiny neck binding and hem facing are amazing. And she certainly knows how to pick her background on that lovely scrappy star block.
Thanks! The only issue I have with the Tiny Wardrobe book is the unfinished seams inside. I love that scrappy Star – Vanilla thought it made her new smock look extra purple!
Utterly beautiful 🤩
Thank you so much – it was a fun project with rags and scraps! I guess I didn’t have patience to try Boro this time around.
Always fulfilling when u make something out of nothing… or something out of something else 😊
This is a wonderful reincarnation of your favorite linen shirt. And Vanilla looks precious in this new version.
Thanks – We were both very glad it turned out so pretty, I have always liked smocks ever since my grandmother made them for me when I was four or five years old, for painting and other messy play.
Oh my goodness, her smock is gorgeous! Congratulations! I love it.
Thank you! I really enjoyed making it – I think on a larger one I might do some actual smocking around the neckline.
I can see she likes it.
Vanilla likes pretty much everything I make for her! She’s a friendly doll.
that’s so gorgeous.
Thanks very much!
Such a charming little dress…from a charming book. thanks to the Quimper human who wrote about this book earlier I now have one of my own. Vanilla looks so sweet in her linen smock!
It was fun to work on this! Vanilla is the very lucky and appreciative recipient of the smock – but she would like to share the delight! The human is thinking of whether to make more!
This blog post is enchanting, and so is the resulting smock! Thanks so much for the inspiration!
Oh, I LOVE this! What an enchanting little dolly, too! I love to make doll clothes and have made millions I think over the years. I need to find a new little girl to make them for, I think!
I carved Vanilla in January 2020 – she is a sweetheart, in fact she has a heart carved on her chest, which just appeared out of the wood-grain, so her middle name is Valentina!