Love the DIY Bishop in the current Sew Beautiful – the fabric choice is so fresh and different! I’m looking forward to making this dress for 3 little granddaughters!

I would LOVE to make the honeycomb dress in a size 6 but don’t one how to adjust the measurements?? A beautiful pattern!

That’s awesome, Emily. I’m sure your granddaughters are going to look adorable.

Kris – thanks for the compliment. I’ve been thrilled by the response to my dress. The great thing about a bishop of course is how forgiving it is. Assuming your daughter is on the slim side, you should be able to get a size 6 out of a standard width of fabric. When you cut it out, measure her from the base of the neck to the knee (or however long you want the dress) and add three inches. Cut the front this measurement x WOF. Cut the back 3/4″ longer, and WOF. Then use the size 4 directions for cutting the arm holes and shoulders. After the smocking is complete, try it on and if necessary, scoop a little bit out of the underarm (1/4″ or 3/8″) if it needs to be a little deeper there. Then just complete the dress following the directions.

Many thanks Claire! I look forward to following your pattens. I smock but have never done honeycomb so it will be an interesting project. Will send a photo of the completed dress!.

I was thinking that this would be a lovely peasant blouse for an older girl–or even and adult. My dd is a size 16 (fairly slender, just tall–age 10 and already around five foot two!) Any ideas how to go up that much in size? Especially for someone who has never tried a “no pattern” approach?

Thanks, Martha and yes, I agree, it’s a great style for an older girl who doesn’t want ‘smocking’ but does want to look cool and trendy. Now, shhhh, don’t tell everyone you heard it from me, but there are plans afoot for larger sizes. Seriously, I’ve been blown away by the number of emails I’ve gotten asking for the bigger sizes. Now I can’t say too much about it right now ’cause they’re still being firmed up but in the nearish future, I will let folks know when the big girls sizes are going to make an appearance. Definitely they will be tween sizes. Depending on my schedule, there may be (and I stress the *may be*) women’s sizes, too.

Unfortunately, because of how pattern proportions work, it isn’t possible to make a size 4 into a size 16. They are built from different blocks (the basic component of every pattern). Sorry

Claire, I love this design and can’t wait to make it! My daughter lives in Europe and has sent pictures of how the children, especially the French, are dressed to inspire me. This is very much like a simple blue longsleeved top that dressed a baby she was sitting for. I am so happy to be able to duplicate it–perfect for the more simple styles preferred by Floridians where I live. Thanks for correcting the marking and cutting angle order of steps on the front–perhaps Sew Beautiful will add the correction to their website. Again, thank you for this lovely design–Annette in Tampa

That’s great, Annette. I was lucky enough to visit France last summer and you’re right – the styles for children there really emphasize a stylish, understated comfort. They still dress like kids but the ‘to much of a muchness’ is definitely in the minority.

That’s great to hear! Both that they are on the way, and that they have been requested so much.

Do I need to drop in here every so often to get updates?

Just got my SB mag and loved the bishop – have just purchased fabric and was rereading the article before cutting out and saw your site and had a minute to take a look. So glad I did! I wondered about cutting into the neckline smocking, so am pleased to have the correct just in time. Many thanks for your beautiful work!

You’re more than welcome, Claudia. If you have questions during the construction, don’t hesitate to ask. I’m here to help!

Claire, what a darling dress! I’ve already cut out and marked the fabric for a size four for my GD. I’ll be posting it on my blog!
Thanks for a fun project!

That’s great, Cynthia. And it’ll make a nice break from all those bullions you’ve been stitching lately. Can’t wait to see the pics.

Love this little bishop dress. Can I run it through my pleater instead of marking all those lines??? I’m a little lazy.

Diane – believe it or not, it really is faster to work honeycomb ‘direct’ rather than on pre-pleated fabric. By the time you roll it up, pleat the needles, cut the threads blah blah blah, you’ll have the little sucker marked. There’s nothing to stop you from doing it the other way of course (AS&E’s book has good step-by-step pics for honeycomb on pleated fabrics) but honestly, if you’ve never tried honeycomb worked like this before, try it. It’s crazy fast. Seriously. One good night of TV and you’ll be done and you won’t need anything but your needle, thread ruler and a disappearing marker.

Claire, so sorry, but there are more errors in the cutting instructions that should be added to your post and the Sew Beautiful magazine as well. Unfortunately, I realized after cutting according to the magazine instructions that the distance from top of the neck down to point A needs to be 3 1/4 in, not 2 5/8 as in the instructions. Yes, you can do fewer rows, but I am disappointed that I spoiled fabric that I purchased. It really is a lovely design, and I will start over, but I fear you are going to be hearing from many subscribers with the same situation. Thanks, Annette

To clarify, the correction for the cutting is on the Sew Beautiful site–your readers can find it at http://www.sewbeautifulmag.com/corrections.html

Claire, thank you for your quick reply. I will try to mark the fabric. Sometimes I don’t get things really straight when I mark! I am excited to try this project.

I’m so sorry that your fabric was cut in error, Annette I went back and double checked *my* original article and the numbers there are right. SB tries really hard to make sure that all the details are correct but because they edit for length and preferred construction methods, sometimes, errors creep in as things are cut and pasted. I hadn’t realized they’d issued the correction and since I’d use my notes to remake any new dresses, I likely wouldn’t have caught it, so thank you. I’m going to go right now and put a link into the article amendment into the post.

Claire, thank you. The illustrations and other directions in your article are so thorough, I suspected the error was with SB. It happens . . .Thanks again for the darling design. I will use the first fabric for a baby quilt

I have more questions about the cutting instructions on this dress. Sometime we are asked to measure from the selvage and sometimes from the open end of the fabric. Do we cut the fabric block to the listed size and then measure or leave the selvages on and then measure? The width of fabric is not always the same, so the dress will be different sizes depending on the width of the fabric. Please review the instructions and advise me on how to cut my fabric.

Claire, do I start with the 41 x 27 piece and then cut the sleeve/armhole piece out?

Your dress is absolutely fabulous. My daughter is about to turn 3 and this will be perfect for her. I can’t wait to do it and thanks for the corrections.

Yes, you want to cut the rectangles first (you’re making a size four I’m guessing). Remember that the front and the back are a slightly different length – the back is 3/4″ longer than the front. Once you’ve cut your rectangle to size, fold it in half and then go ahead and mark and cut out the arm holes.

Can’t wait to see it, Catherine.

Claire,
You have been absolutely fabulous about answering all these questions! Thank you for the clarification. I am making a sz 6 for my granddaughter.

Claire – sorry, I don’t mean to turn this into a sewing tutorial, but I’m having a hard time envisioning how I am going to smock 6 rows of honeycomb after I scoop out the front neck. (I haven’t done HC before)

Would you let us know the designer of the beautiful fabric you used in the SB dress? It is just lovely!

Glenda – it’s a great fabric. Alas, I wish I could tell you the fabric designer but I can’t. It was a rather a fluke that that dress in that fabric ended up in this issue of SB and because of that, fabric availability didn’t come into the design process. Kathy Barnard liked the dress and wanted it for the technique, rather than as a showcase for a particular fabric line. The peach geometric fabric was stash and as far as I know, it is out of print. I purchased it at Fabricland 3 or 4 years ago when it was being discontinued and I believe it was a ‘in house’ print, rather than a brand name print like Michael Miller or Heather Bailey. I don’t have any of it left – I literally used every inch to make the dress that was photographed in the magazine and I didn’t keep the small scraps, so I have no selvages left either.

I’m sorry about that. It is a cute dress, though and I think it will be adorable in whatever fabric you end up making it in. It’s a very accommodating design. Here are some suggestions for fabrics that have a similar feel or colour palette. I hope they inspire you!

http://www.hawthornethreads.com/fabric/designer/thomas_knauer/pear_tree/happy_scrolls_in_pink

http://www.hawthornethreads.com/fabric/designer/patricia_bravo/poetica/dancing_in_tango

http://www.hawthornethreads.com/fabric/designer/jenean_morrison/grand_hotel/ballroom_in_sunset

http://www.hawthornethreads.com/fabric/designer/patricia_bravo/summerlove/retro_harmony_in_sugar

http://www.hawthornethreads.com/fabric/designer/my_minds_eye/lost__found/round_in_pink

I can’t believe you took the time for such a detailed reply — including the links to fabric designs. I think the key is that “all-over” design. The Round in Pink fabric is a good match. Thank you so much for your help. I LOVE this dress!

The model shows 6 rows of smocking but if you scoop the front, as indicated in the SB directions, you lose 2 rows at CF. How does that work? Thanks.

I am completely confused on Step 2. It says approx. 14 1/2″ from selvage but then in Step 4 it says 8 1/2″. Am I reading something wrong?

In step 2, you’re drawing a horizontal line that’s about 14 1/2″ long. Then, in step 4, you mark a point along that line 8 1/2″ inches from the selvedge. Does that help clear up your confusion?

I love this pattern but I’m a tad confused. I’m using a yard of fabric that is 44″ wide (I may need to get more). When I fold it (in Figure 1), what is the measurement from the selvedge to the fold? I may be reading the diagram wrong – but it looks like line A would go deeper towards the fold than pictured in the diagram. Thanks!

Hi Debbie – Yes, you’ll probably need a little more than a yard, unless you’re making it tunic length. The diagrams are never scaled models, so when in doubt follow the written measurements. In this case, line A is about 14 or so inches, which will be a little more than half way across the folded fabric.

I made the dress and unfortunately am not happy with the way the front neckline turned out. Upon cutting the 1″ to make the scoop, you loose rows of smocking, thus taking up more rows of smocking when you put on the binding. Your photo appeares to show all 6 rows…what did I do wrong? Also, when you refer to the binding measurements, why is a size 2-17″, size 3-16″, size 4-15″?? I would think the larger the size dress the larger the size of the binding. I purchased 5 yards of fabric to make 3 granddaughters dress and will need to purchase more as I’m not happy with the way the first one turned out! Can you advise on how to avoid cutting the scoop and not loosing smocking rows? I also cut my fabric as instructed to 2 3/4″ per instructions and it wasn’t until reading further that I calculated that it really should have been 3 1/4″! Live and learn!! The honeycomb smocking was wonderful fun to do! If you would like, I can take a photo of my finished dress and it may help you to help me! Thank you so much for your time and any input you can share!

Claire, Love the dress and really want to try it. I have the same question as Diane Morris above. Are all the measurements from the selvage (44inch) or are some from the cut (40inch) edge? I am actually cutting from Swedish Tracing paper first to make the pattern. Glad I did. I think I messed up with the measurements.

Hi Debbie – sorry you had problems. The dip was a mistake that SB made in the directions. If you read my blog post, you see that I suggested some fixes for it. The easiest frankly, is to do the dip at the hem edge. That’s how I did the sample. Also, the binding # were backwards in the magazine. Reverse size 2 and size 4 measurements and you’ll be fine. 2 3/4 inches for the armband/smocking depth is correct though. You need to measure carefully – if you are adding even an 1/8″ extra between the spacing, it will be too wide and it won’t fit the neckband. Good luck!

Jeannette – it will depend on the size of the dress you are making. But once the rectangles are cut, all the measurements from the open edge are done on the cut down rectangle, after the selvedges have been removed.

That really helps. I noticed in your blog above you say, “Make sure as you mark the horizontal lines that they are perpendicular to the top edge.” Didn’t you mean parallel to the top edge?