Hand-smocked dresses are the perfect addition to your little ones wardrobe. Our dresses are made with good quality cotton and silk fabrics and therefore with a little extra love, you can have them looking as good as new. We understand that it’s not always easy to keep these delicate dresses clean but read on as we give you some tips on taking care of your smocked and hand-embroidered dresses.
The thread used for smocking is of excellent quality and is colour-fast. The smocking and embroidery are all done by hand making the dresses delicate. When washing the dresses make sure that you wash them with similar colours together. Be mindful when you wash dark colours such as red, navy, orange, and dark pink. The key is to wash them separately. Why? Well, dark colours tend to bleed during the first few washes, so do take that extra precaution. Washing a hand-embroidered dress requires mild and gentle care.
Hand Washing
Smocked dresses are best recommended to be washed by hand. A gentle wash is an ideal way to keep the longevity of these beautiful timeless dresses. You can start by soaking the smocked dress in cold water with mild or eco-friendly detergent powder. Rub the fabric gently to get any stains off. Then rinse it in cold water and wring the smocked dress to get the excess water off. Finally, it’s best if you could drip dry the garment in the sunshine or the fresh air.
Machine Washing
It is not always easy to find the time to hand-wash the dresses. As parents, you have busy schedules, and we understand that sometimes you do need a faster method. That is why you could machine wash the dresses too. Turn the smocked dress inside out and remember to put it inside a washing bag. This is to keep the smocked pleats and hand-embroidered stitches together. We wouldn’t want the beautiful details of the dress getting damaged now, would we? Turn the machine to delicate and wash in cold water with mild or eco-friendly detergent. A delicate dress needs delicate care! Do try to avoid tumble drying.
Ironing
Now that we got through the first few steps, we are on the last step to taking care of the dress. Let’s get down to ironing. First, start with ironing the lining skirt of the dress. This will help you keep the dress sharp and in place. If the dress has collars then unfold them and lay them out on the ironing board. Use the point of the iron to go around the collar. There you go, now the collars are nice and stiff. Moving to the smocking panels, these should be ideally ironed on the reverse side. Or you could use a soft cotton cloth on top if you would prefer to iron on the correct side up. This is to ensure that you do not crush the pleats. (This was a secret taught by Amalie’s Mother-in-law to her) When ironing the skirt, place it on the board and take the point of the iron right up to the smocking panels. Use the same technique to iron the whole skirt. A dress that is made of silk fabric should not be laundered at home. It is best to leave the task to a specialist dry cleaner.
A few steps are all it takes!
There you have it a few steps and the beautifully smocked and hand-embroidered dresses will last a lifetime. We want our smocked dresses to be passed on to the next generation. After all that the beauty in shopping handmade and slow fashion. Follow the care tips above and your little one can treasure the dress for years to come
Leave a Reply