Little Smocked Dresses

I have a real soft spot for smocked dresses on little girls. Perhaps it comes from growing up in the Southern United States, where nice clothing is expected every now and then. Or maybe it is because I spent six weeks in Ecuador one college summer observing women working in a smocking factory. Either way, the delicate embroidery on children's clothes makes me feel that all is right with the world.



I can smock, but I have not had much time lately. The last project I did was the flower girl dresses for my brother's wedding. That was in 2005, and my plans to get out the pleater since then have not yet worked out. So when I saw these incredible smocked dresses for sale in Vietnam, I snatched up eight of them. Yes, eight. But they were very reasonable! The cheapest dresses were US$7.50 and the most expensive (made of a fine cotton batiste) was $30.
Who could have resisted?



I also picked up some appliqued t-shirts for US$6 each. Isn't this one wonderful?



So now Miss G has pretty little dresses waiting in her closet. We'll have to go back, though, so that we can restock once she outgrows these. No, I am not kidding.