I can make that!! I think :)

I fell in love with this maxi dress for Milla from Marie-Chantal but could not justify paying $152 for such a simple, simple maxi that I believed I could make. So, I googled "smocked dress how to" and found exactly what I needed to get started.

The dress I wanted to buy

The instructions I found

1st Dress: ooops, I cut too soon!! Now,  Bunny has a dress just in time for Easter

2nd dress: 6 smocked lines and yarn trim, ankle length

3rd Dress: 4 smocked lines, hand-made bias tape, ankle length

detail of top of dress

These dresses take less than 2 hours to make and turned out pretty darn cute....not Marie-Chantal cute, but I do like them:) I think they need more fabric in the body...maybe two panels(front and back) instead of tube style. I may have to experiment to get the fullness of the Marie-Chantal maxi. 

Also, the last dress was made from a stiffer cotton fabric, actually a vintage fabric I inherited from my G-ma Ellard. I just love it and never had quite enough of it to make anything before. It didn't gather quite as well as the lighter weight floral before it. I'd like to try a linen fabric next. And, I may even make a couple for myself, sans the straps!