Polka-dot Bishop constructions

Today I was very happy to find that the new technique I was trying for this smocked bishop worked beautifully! The idea is not to pleat over the thicker french seams where the sleeves connect to the front and back of the dress. You roll the back, sleeve, front, other sleeve, and other back pieces through the pleater one after the other but without seaming them together. Then, when the smocking is done, you take out the pleater threads and sew up the seams. I still wanted french seams but I had 3/8 inch seam allowances. I ended up cutting one seam allowance to 1/8th of an inch and folding the other seam allowance over twice on top of it, then sewing it down by hand. The seam was very tiny!

But look how nice the smocking looks. One can't even see where the four seams are!

I hope to have this dress on my Etsy shop tomorrow.