Looking for the Sundress Patterns You saw on Martha??
Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at 10:43AM 
The dress that I am wearing (and the one I made for Martha) is my pattern, The Mendocino Sundress, and is available as a free download here. The black floral fabric is from Kokka, designed by Naomi Ito for her "nani Iro" line. Its a double gauze, perfect for this dress. You can find her new line here. I will be teaching the Mendocino Sundress (for grown-ups) at Purl Patchwork in the coming weeks, check out the class schedule here.
The dress that we are making (and that Imogene is wearing) is the Little Girls Smocked Sundress project in Weekend Sewing. The fabrics we used are all from my line for Westminster / Free Spirit, Mendocino, which is also available here.
My necklace is JCrew, my sandals are from Coach. My hair never looks that good. Martha is extremely tall.
Reader Comments (33)
Love the dress I saw on Martha! What a great pattern and love you fabric. I tried downloaded your pattern but it is not showing up on the site. Do you know when it will be up? Thanks! can't wait to make this dress. Congrats on your line and being on Martha!
Heather- You were awesome! And your hair ALWAYS looks that good. I am getting myself some of the *sigh* nani Iro and making a dress.
loved you on the show today! nice job! cant wait to make a dress...
keep up the great work!
Can't wait to watch you on Martha!!! I DVRd it today... :)
Heather - I just saw your segment on Martha and I loved your sentiment about how you can't remember a time when you weren't a sewer and that's how it should be. That's just how I feel about sewing. Your book is so very inspiring and I can't wait to make more and more of the projects.
One question if you have time to answer... if not it's OK. How old were you when you actually picked up a needle and thread? I'm anxious to share sewing with my 2 year-old and wondering when she will be able to move on from just sorting through my piles of "habric" (fabric).
I am not a mom, so its tough for me to answer that, but I can tell you that once you poke yourself with a needle you become very good at avoiding it again!
you can also buy plastic sewing needles, the kind that are meant for darning, and use them with yarn. Its a great way to make crazy sock puppets, because the plastic needle easily pierces sweater and sock knits. Good luck!
I just finished watching - you looked so great, Heather! And your bit about the vintage sewing machines - LOVED that... "all metal, simple to use" - perfect way to come out from endorsing a 'new' machine. hehe
I have already watched today's Martha 2x! What did we do before DVR's? Loved the segment! Thought you did a terrific job. Will the class at Purl be for the adult size dress?
Love the Martha segment! I am a new sewer (about 5 months) and I made the dress from Weekend Sewing in under an hour, as advertised in your book. The elastic thread is such fun to work with. I can't wait for my twins to nap tomorrow so I can make another one, or two, or three. I must now try something for my sons . . . maybe the PJ pants! Thanks for the inspiration!
Well, you're hair did look great. I kept looking at your dress during the show, then you said it was the same pattern. It's lovely. I think you did a great job, in the amount of time, showing the steps and the end result. I guess I will have to give that a try, I've always been a bit nervous. I wish I could say I've been sewing as long as you, but I can say that I've always been around it. My grandma was making dresses at age 3, with her sister and mother.
Thanks for the plug on vintage machines too! That was sweet.
Again, great job. It was nice getting to see/hear you and your personality, a little more than cyberspace. =)
Loved to finally "meet" you on the show (& loved your necklace!). I'm going to make the little girl dress for my granddaughter this afternoon! Aloha!
Um, anyway you could be on Martha every week and demo every pattern from Weekend Sewing? Thanks! Seriously, the show was great and I am loving everything I've made from the book.
Loved your spot on Martha. Actually was late to my Park Play Date because I couldn't tear myself away from the show to leave. I can't wait to make a dress for my little girl. I need to order some of your lovely fabric for it first. I've been wanting to and now I have the perfect excuse to order some.
You were so nice and did a great job. Congrats on being on Martha.
you did a great job, heather!
It is on Martha's site:
http://www.marthastewart.com/article/smocked-sundress?lnc=13fbf423088ee010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&rsc=taxonomylist_crafts_sewing
I love this and the last post. Lots of interesting gossip and fun. Thanks :-)
You did a great job on the Martha Stewart show. You have inspired m. I have been wanting to make a smocked shirt for myself for a long time. Today is the day..hopefully :)
Question: on the show you didn't cut the elastic at the end of each row, but in the book you instruct to do so. Is one way better than the other? You also instruct to backstitch in the book but not on the show. Again, is one way better?
I just finished this dress. It is so adorable and so fun to make. Thanks so much for sharing!
That was a great segment! very nice dress. thanks for sharing with us!
Heather, you did such a great job! You were as genuine on TV as you were in person (myself, my mom and my sister were able to see your demo at Spool in Philly). Great job and thanks for sharing!
Please continue to design such wonderful fabrics and inspire young sewers. I just bought that black kokka fabric and was so excited when I saw it on the show.
heather --- nice job on Martha! :)
Thanks for sharing the pattern ---
any tips on adjusting the pattern to make larger sizes? I need to make this in a 6 and 8/10.
thanks!!!!
Great segment! I really enjoyed watching it - you looked so calm and at ease (I would have been a wreck!). I definitely think I'll be needing a smocked dress ... maybe in one of the Far Far Away prints?!
Thanks for the info about your accessories -- J.Crew necklace and Coach shoes -- but what about the sweater that you wore on the show. With that, I could wear your dress ~so~ many more places. Great segment on the show. I also have vintage machines and am looking forward to reading your book.
One other thing -- the link I took to the Kokka website led me to a site that wasn't in English; however a Google search took me to retailers' sites that I could read.