Learn how to do smocking on dresses with this simple tutorial with basic smocking stitches, which you can combine to form different patterns
A video and blog tutorial on how to alter a pattern to add a smocked insert.
Learn machine smocking techniques you can do with your sewing machine in this expert guide from Lorna Knight.
In the Edwardian era, there were 5 ways to attach ruffles: with a receiving tuck, flat felled seam, finishing braid, French seam or whipped gathers.
Shirring is an old technique, I know. (Shirring and smocking aren’t actually originally done with elastic…..but it sure makes things easier. And faster.) Sometimes I assume everyone knows how to do it. But then I get another email asking how to shir (or smock) fabric. So it reminds me I shouldn’t assume…………..because it is …
An updated list of free geometric smocking designs.
When I first learned to smock I remember being taught about blocking, having no understanding of what I was doing and then assuming that smocking was too hard for me. This prevented me from smockin…
Beautiful classic smocked heirloom christening gown for your baby’s special day. Fine cotton with wonderful drape, a traditional long skirt, and intricate embroidery and smocking with a frilled peter pan collar. Fabric covered buttons fasten at the back and a matching diaper cover and bonnet are included. Fully lined. 100% fine cotton Machine washable
A round-up of free geometric smocking plates to stitch and sew for children.
When I first learned to smock I remember being taught about blocking, having no understanding of what I was doing and then assuming that smocking was too hard for me. This prevented me from smockin…
Learn the machine stitches and techniques that best mimic the delicate handwork associated with heirloom sewing. We focus on the options that are the easiest to incorporate into garment or home décor projects.
Freezer paper can be a magic tool in the sewing room. It can be used for templates, it can be temporarily ironed onto fabric as a stabilizer, and it leaves no
Haute couture for a baby? It feels alike. Just kidding. In a way it`s like yoga for me. I love hand embroidering. It`s so meditative. The same stitches over and over again, while you let your thoug…
When I first learned to smock I remember being taught about blocking, having no understanding of what I was doing and then assuming that smocking was too hard for me. This prevented me from smockin…
A dress to sew from Smart Sewing, 1949.
There are certain elements that make a garment an “Heirloom Garment.” Those elements, now machine done, are sewing techniques once called Fine French Hand Sewing and were popular in the late 1800s to the 1920s. … More
Findley - A free smocking graph for your back to school smocking and sewing!
Video and blog tutorial on how to stitch an heirloom shell stitch edging. Use this sewing technique to hem the edge of a neckline or armhole giving it a soft scalloped edge.
Recently my good friend, Lisa Hawkes, owner of Pink Hollybush Designs, asked me to test a new bonnet pattern for her. I had such a good time completing this p
Ever want to learn to smock but feel intimidated by the look of all those row and rows? Take a look at this little smocked top with ruffled shorts. It's fun, it's colorful and it's done with SHORT rows of repeating stitches. You can totally do this!!! If you live near by this is the project I'm using to teach a beginning class at the store where I work Just Sew in Highland, Utah The class will be two sessions - One for teaching the stitches and one to help with sewing it all up. Wednesday mornings - March 27 & April 10. Maybe I will see YOU there. :)
The latest issue of Sew Beautiful showed up several of weeks ago, with this adorable dress by Claire Meldrum. It is a bishop that doesn't use a pattern. Instead, Claire gives detailed instructions on how to cut out and mark the dress. The smocking is honeycomb smocking, a variation on North American Smocking. I'm using this fabric I had in my stash, a Debbie Mumm for Joann. I'll be smocking it with a light green floss, DMC 772. Now, how many of you read Mary Corbet's post on DMC from June 27? (along with all the comments, mine included). It was very interesting, do read it if you get a chance. It goes a bit into the controversy about a perceived decline in quality of their floss. By the way, this particular color I'm using is not marked as colorfast. But then the fabric probably isn't very colorfast either. I marked the fabric as instructed, but on the wrong side instead of the right side. No reason, just not following instructions carefully. I also made the bias binding in one long continuous strip as I smocked in the car on our way to visit our granddaughter in Colorado intending to construct the dress after I arrived. When I make any kind of project from a magazine, I copy the article to bring it with me in my sewing bag so I don't destroy the original magazine. Imagine my chagrin when I started to make the dress and found I didn't copy the complete article, just the smocking instructions. I had to drive to Jo-Ann Fabrics and buy a new copy of the magazine to get the construction part of the article. It was pretty darn easy to put together, and here is the finished product modeled by my granddaughter while inspecting her mom's vegetable garden. Likes and dislikes: This was a very easy pattern, and I love the honeycomb smocking as an alternative to traditional English Smocking. It was very quick to smock, and only took 2-3 hours to construct. Most of that time was spent driving to get the magazine and hemming the bias strips and hem by hand. I did not, however, like the fabric. As I mentioned before, it is Debbie Mumm for Jo-Ann. I've bought Debbie Mumm fabrics from quilt stores before, and they are completely different. This particular fabric ravels very easily and is prone to developing holes if you have to redo a stitch. The fabric seems weak and doesn't have the nice feel that good quilt store fabrics have. Needless to say, I won't use it again. One thing I thought odd was Claire's instructions to make the neck front of the dress lower than the back by cutting the center front by 1 inch and tapering to the shoulders. It does look nice, but we don't generally do this on English Smocked bishops and we tend to be happy with the way they look. The reason I don't like it is that I feel it spoils the look of the smocking, as shown in the camera phone picture of Bridget eating ice cream. I also didn't arrange the pleats as well as I should have, which doesn't help. I'd like to make this again, using a cotton voile for a nice nightgown, leaving the neckline as is and arranging the pleats more evenly. We've been back from Colorado almost a week now, and I do have more things to show you, so stay tuned in the coming week! Happy weekend and I hope you can get some stitching done!
Today we are taking a detailed look the Swiss Voile Pintucks Dress by Gail Doane. The focal point of this crisp voile dress is the bodice.
Stitching lace insertion to fabric is the first technique that we learn when I teach heirloom sewing by machine. This is not a strong applic...
This month, everyone should have their Wee Care dress pleated and ready to block the neckline. You will need the Neckline Blocking Guide in ...
Before pleaters for smocking became popular in the mid 1980's, we pleated the fabric by hand. Since recent changes in the sewing industry have made pleaters harder to find, it is time to look back at this method. Patterns that called for smocking had dots that were transferred to the fabric to form a grid for pleating. You can make your own grid for pleating by using a quilter's ruler and a wash-away marker to mark the fabric. Gingham fabric is great to start with, since it practially has a built in grid. First, starch and press the fabric. The horizontal lines are 3/8" apart and the vertical lines are 1/8" apart. Using quilting thread and a hand sewing needle, knot the thread at one end and following the horizontal lines, bring the needle and thread up through the vertical lines and back down. After all the stitching is completed, draw the threads up to about 15 pleats per inch and knot the thread. You now have a piece of fabric ready for smocking. *The fabric is drawn up to about a 3 to 1 ratio, so 9" of fabric draws up to about 3". If you are new to smocking or need to brush up on an old skill the "Beginning Smocking Book" will take you through step by step and includes several smocking designs. Michie'
Want to try the Children's Corner Bishop and make an adorable smocked bishop? Get a few tips on the Sew Vintagely blog, and make something beautiful!
Pattern Sizes: 2-10.
Smocking is done by using small stitches to gather fabric in a pattern. You can use it to create little rows of pretty pleats with colorful stitching, the perfect detail for a child's dress or the bodice of a blouse. See Step 1 to learn a...
A video tutorial on how to block a bishop neckline for smocking.
Today's tutorial is on blind hemming. We are still working on the Smocked Bishop dress, so if you are new to my blog, please click on the pa...
Silk tulle is extremely soft and sheer and it provides a different sewing experience from working with a woven fabric. Silk taffeta has a crisp hand, comes in a variety…
One of the mysteries for smockers is learning to construct the garment after the smocking is completed. It is very important to size your pleated piece correctly when tying off. For this garment, the smocking will be attached to the bottom of the front yoke. In the picture you can see the front yoke, the piping that I will be using, and the smocked piece. I carefully measured and tied off the pleated piece before smocking, but got so excited about smocking that I forgot to take a picture! Right sides up, and matching the centers, the piping is then pinned to the smocked piece. The piping should fall right above the first row of smocking. I like to use my 6 groove cording foot since the tiny piping fits just right into one of the grooves! The stitch is lengthened to about a 3.5 to attach the piping, then back to a normal stitch length when the yoke is attached. I hope that these pictures have helped solve one of the mysteries for you! Michie'
In the Edwardian era, there were 5 ways to attach ruffles: with a receiving tuck, flat felled seam, finishing braid, French seam or whipped gathers.
A sewing tutorial on how to add smocking to the Alice Top by Tessuti Fabrics.
A piped and bound edge is a simple way to finish an opening that doesn't have a lining. This tutorial will show you how.
Back in January, when I declared 2016 to be my Homespun Year at A Tray of Bliss, I asked you to imagine what new skills you could adop...
Finally, something sewing related! Here are the instructions and smocking plates. Smocked Easter Egg directions Pleat 11 full space rows adding a half space row between rows 1 and 2. Use a holding thread that matches your fabric for rows 1 1/2 and 10 as these threads will be permanent. Leaving 1/2" seam allowance, smock beginning on row 6. Down cable, 1-step trellis up to row 5, up cable, 1-step trellis back down to row 6, 3-step trellis up to row 4, up cable, 3-step trellis back down to row 6, repeat 5 more times for a total of 6 repeats (covers 72 pleats). Do not take final stitch on each row. Removed needle and leave thread tail to join rows when smocking is completed. Complete remainder of smocking. Remember not to take the final stitch and to leave the thread tail. Trim fabric to 1/2" along each side of smocking. Prepare holding threads for removal (leave in until construction of the fabric tube is complete) and knot the ends of row 1 1/2 and row 10 so that you do not accidentally remove them. With the thread tails at the end of reach row, join into corresponding stitches at the beginning of the same row.* This will make a tube of smocked fabric. Tie off stitches on the inside of the tube. Remove pleating threads, except for row 1 1/2 and row 10. Slide egg into fabric tube. Trim fabric close to remaining pleating threads.* Pull threads tightly and tie securely. Finish ends as desired. *I found after making several of these, that it is easier is you trim the fabric close to rows 1 1/2 and 10 before constructing the fabric tube. End finishing techniques There are several ways to finish the ends. You may glue rosettes, ribbons, buttons, bows, or other decorations on the ends. The yellow egg is finished with fabric yo-yos on each end. The blue and pink eggs are finished with a stitched spider web. You may also attach a thread loop to the small end of the egg so that it can be hung. Spiderweb finish Using two strands of floss, make an eight spoked star over the raw edges at one end. Bring the needle back out at the center of the star. Beginning with the spoke nearest the needle and working counter-clockwise, backstitch over spoke. Move to the next spoke and repeat until all the spokes and raw edges are covered. Tie off and hide knot under stitches. Other smocking plates You can use just about any smocking plate. It should cover no more than 9 rows and be anywhere from 72 to 100 pleats wide. Smocking plate for the yellow egg coming soon. Blue egg Smocking plate Start at Row 5 (up cable, down cable, up cable, 2 step trellis down to 5 1/2, down cable, up cable, down cable, 2 step trellis back to 5). Repeat this pattern a total of 8 times. Construct as above. Creating your own smocking graph using Excel I found directions here: http://www.southern-stitches.com/excelsmckng.html
