When I was 12, my mom sewed me one of these sundresses. It was red with yellow flowers on it and I wore it that whole summer. The fabric comes pre-smocked, so it is not much work at all. That was the last I wore it because the next year I was a self-conscious teenager, and the tightness of the smocking showed off what I did NOT have.
Fast forward 35 years and I have now apparently gotten over the body issues, and I have a new version of the smocked sundress. I saw a friend wearing one of these last year as a beach cover up, and decided to see if they still made the pre-smocked fabric. Wandering into Joann Fabric this week, the first thing to greet me was a display of it.
It came in different lengths and patterns. I chose this one because it was cotton and falls to a little bit below my knee. I also bought some in a blue rayon that is maxi dress length and I am still trying to decide if I feel like trying a maxi dress, or finding a good spot in the pattern to cut it off.
This was so simple to make. It can be done in one side seam. I did turn up the bottom and added a hem because I thought it looked more finished that way since the holes in the selvage were showing, but the color ran true all the way to the edge, so you could skip that part.
Now I am off to channel my inner 12-year-old and have summer fun in a cute sundress.
alookatthelittlethings 
Oh yes, love the material – it has a slight retro feel to it as well. Incidentally, I also had similar childhood experience with filling (or not filling) such a dress!
I wore it this weekend. I still don’t fill it out properly (although a bit better than my 13-year-old self), but now I just don’t care. 🙂