How could I pass up a toddler smock pattern when I have two little boys that love to eat and seriously the name itself drew me in - "Mustn't Spoil Your Frock Smock"?
Danielle of "mysparkle" was kind enough to e-mail me a pdf copy of the pattern. I quickly scanned the pattern for needed supplies. I had heard of oilcloth but never seen or used it before. I picked some up at a quaint fabric shop in Dallas called City Craft. They have a variety of types and prints. The "boyish" options were very limited. I asked Jake to pick which color and he chose the blue check.
The pdf pattern was easy to print off and assembled perfectly. The instructions are well written and extremely easy to follow. I decided to just make the pattern in the original sizing. My little guy is almost three and he is tall for his age and the smock still covered his torso. The sleeves were a tad short. I'll lengthen it next time as the instructions recommended for older children. I deviated slightly from the pattern in that I used cotton double fold biased tape instead of creating my own from the oilcloth. I have only used biased tape three times in my short sewing career and I find it extremely difficult to keep the tape smooth around curved edges. I had to unpick it several times and redo it. In the end I really liked the way the biased tape gave the smock a nice finished look. Next time I will try using the oilcloth for the trim because I fear the cotton will stain easily.
This smock is very versatile. I imagine we will use the smock for painting and other such art projects as well as for messy spaghetti dinners. Looking forward to less laundry with this full coverage smock. Thanks Danielle!
To get your own copy of the pattern shop Danielle's Etsy shop here.
