John Deere Wedding and Smocked Dresses

Friday night I began smocking the dresses for the flower girls at my daughters John Deere Wedding.When I think of all the beautiful, lacy dresses with hundreds of hours spent smocking these dresses in the past, the idea of picture smocking farm scenes just seems appalling. But this is what I am doing.

The dresses are a very fine green gingham, 1/8 inch squares to be exact. I found the fabric...........well the fabric screamed out to me and was on the 40% off rack until the end of October. I bought enough for my granddaughters who are in their mom's wedding and thought well if daughter doesn't like I will smock them anyway for summer dresses.

Daughter did like them and this is the smocking plate I am using......

with some changes. The corn is going and I am making sunflowers instead. There are two babies in this wedding coming down the isle in wagons. I cannot smock this depth of rows on a baby dress. So the two babies will have sunflowers smocked across, which I have yet to figure out what I am doing, but that is for a later date. I also am not doing the cabbages below the tractor. One dress is a size three, and 16 rows is quite deep for a small child.

As of Sunday night, this is where I have gone to.....

This believe it or not is 6 hours of pleating and smocking. Picture smocking takes a lot of time. Note the barn door to the right of the large 'X'? Well I mucked it up last night and tonight tore this whole section out and redid it.

This is how far I am at bedtime tonight. Eight hours of smocking. The barn still needs outline stitches in black, which I will do when I have black on the needle for the tractor. So far the wheels have been the biggest challenge. I will start with the big tractor wheel tomorrow.

This afternoon on my way home from the city, I stopped at a friends house because she has been missing in action the last three weeks. She had breast cancer two years ago and I was worried about her. So I dropped in. She was fine, just on new medication that makes her feel awful. Now this lady always meets you at the door or outside, never asks you in. Well today she did ask me in. Said she had fabric she has been wanting to give me but couldn't get to it in the closet. Could I help? Okay now I thought she meant she couldn't reach it in the closet and my tall stature could! Was I wrong!! She is a hoarder!!! Couldn't get to the closet. I must have moved 20 boxes into the hallway to get to the closet. Good news was I came home with enough fabric to make myself 8 skirts and two dresses and the lining. I  felt totally dirty when I came out of there. I stripped at the door of my kitchen and threw my clothes in the wash, and then washed all the fabric. Yuck! How on earth can people live like that? Needless to say, it made my house seem really clean and smelling nice ( food in the slow cooker helped), and gave me this desire to want to clean. Hope that desire lasts into tomorrow!