Making a Smocked Holiday Dress, Part II

OK, this may be a little out of order. I haven't yet got pictures of how I take the rectangular smocked panel and make it into a bodice front. Patience...I will ge there. But I think you can see how a piece of the checked material is attached atop the piping. Then I go to the "actual" McCalls pattern and mark where the smocking will be cut. Not until I do a couple rows of tight machine stitching (small zig zag) over this line, do I actually cut through the smocking. I added a lightweight cranberry bodice facing and piping around the neckline. The sleeves are finished with a narrow rolled edge hem like would be used on a quilt binding. A one-inch, interfaced button placket runs the entire length of the dress. That still needs to be added.

Poor quality picture - this is the actual dress material which is underneath the pinnafore. You can see how the greens in the smocking coordinate nicely. I have also added a narrow green piping on this dress. Again, more and better pictures soon. The dress does not have sleeves and collar yet!