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Great post! I am actually considering making a garment with some true smocking. A few monthes ago you asked on facebook what type of sewist you are. At that time I asnwered quick an dirty. That was true at the beginning but I realized I am not anymore. I am now, like you spending more time per garment and enjoying it. Did you see my Ishi dress last week, that is a technique you would love as well.
We can’t eliminate all of our quick sews either, but still like the uniqueness of handwork! Ohhhh…..your Ishi! We had seen the pocket technique before and LOVED IT {on a pouch}!! As for all those other stitches you added, WOW…just WOW!
We tried to find an email address for you, but couldn’t find one, so maybe this will work. We were wondering if we might could use an image of your Ishi dress with a link to your post. We think it will be a perfect fit for an upcoming post on smocking inspiration!!! THANK YOU!
I would be honored! but I might be late with my reaction 😉
if you want to contact me you could use inspinration(at)gmail.com
Well! This certainly begins to demystify things. Thanks for the great beginners post. I thing my daughter, Allegra, who loves to embroider and sew by hand might enjoy smocking.
YES, YES, YES!! Allegra would be a fan of smocking….especially since she likes embroidery!!
YAY!!! There’s so much more smocking I’d like to be doing. Eliza recently decided she wants to wear smocked bishops after boycotting them for the first four years of her life. I’ve got a pleater and everything, but the time it’ll take just overwhelms me. I hope this will be motivating for me!!!
My two favorite resources (so far) were the DVD that came with my Read pleater and Martha Pullen’s DVD “Smocking” http://store.marthapullen.com/p-4864-smocking-dvd
Ok. Now I’ve decided. I’m pleating today or tomorrow.
So glad Eliza has lifted the ban on smocked bishops!! And, thanks for adding your go-to resources {there are SO MANY places to look for some GOOD STUFF!}. We’ll be looking for that new bishop in the upcoming months…
This is a great post! Thank you for all of the links especially, I have been wondering how to get started with smocking for such a long time!
Glad you are interested in learning about smocking! There’s a lot of interest….and a lot of anxiety too {that doesn’t have to be there!}.
Well, bless your darling little smocking hearts !!!!! I hope that your followers will go to http://www.smocking.org and see what a special guild it is and all the educational opportunities offered. Warm regards to you special ladies. Susan VH
SUSAN! We’ve missed you!!! Yes, SAGA is a special group of dedicated ladies… As we continue to “talk” about smocking here, I hope you chime in with your knowledge as well!
Great post! This post is really helpful as I would love to do smocking but don’t even know where to start!
Prepare yourself….we aren’t done with the topic quite yet :)! Glad you are interested in learning about it!
I am so glad that you are showing some smocking, it seems to be disappearing everywhere else! I only started smocking myself a few years ago and I love to see the beautiful work that others do, its so inspiring. This is such a great post, when I first started smocking I was so lost and I didn’t know where to find the information that you have so neatly presented here. Thank you.
Thanks for those kind words, Tenille! And, yea for you to jump in there and learn to smock!! Once you’ve mastered a few stitches, we think geometric smocking takes less thought than keeping up with a cross-stitch pattern…
Great post!
For any of your Canadian readers, my good friend Judith Marquis is one of Canada’s most well know smocking teachers and pattern designers. http://www.amberlane.ca
She taught me how to do picture smocking, tatting and silk ribbon embroidery. When she isn’t teaching here in the Great White North, she often teaches at SAGA and U.S. smocking guilds.
Thanks for jumping in there, Deb, and adding another resource!
You forgot to mention Italian (needs a pleater) and counterchange (no pleater required) smocking.
There are ladies in my guild who rarely do English or American.
One of my favorite resources is the book “A – Z of Smocking” by the same publishers as AS&E magazine. It’s a complete smocking reference, and it has all those great step-by-step pictures. With that one book, you could teach yourself to smock.
(I think Lisa is mistaken in her definition of American smocking. You might want to double check that.)
Italian smocking looked interesting, and something I wasn’t familiar with it. As for the counterchange smocking – is that similar to honeycomb smocking that has made a resurgence on blogs and pinterest recently? I was thinking it was more of a smocking technique…not a type. I’ve got so much to learn about smocking still!! When I was searching the two types of smocking you had mentioned, I ran across “lattice smocking” too. It looked intriguing as well. I understand American smocking to be the manipulation of fabric…and done without a pleater. The way you manipulate it is up to you…whether by transfer dots or other means… Then, your method of manipulation affects the look of the garment. But, again, this is something we haven’t tried yet…
A-Z Books: YES, YES, YES!! These books are phenomenal!! We don’t have the smocking one, but have some of the embroidery ones….and they are GREAT! You’re right…the step-by-step pictures and instructions could definitely teach someone to smock / embroider / etc. {whatever the title of the book suggests}.
Thanks for adding a go-to resource as well!!
Love this post.Let’s bring heirloom sewing back. I love all Children’s Corner patterns, there is a great Facebook group that’s full of tips and alternate design ideas. I love The Old Fashioned Baby, along with some sites already mentioned. I hope you plan to discuss fabric and shops. So happy to see this topic!
And, we love your enthusiasm!!! Children’s Corner patterns are great….and the fit is dead-on for our nieces… We were “saving” the Old Fashion Baby resource for our upcoming hand embroidery posts :)!!! Fabrics and shops WOULD BE a great topic – THANKS for the SUGGESTION / INPUT {we will work toward that}!!
i love using anything from country bumpkin and of course Micié Mooney’s beginning smocking book. They are my favorite to teach from.
Country Bumpkin = WONDERFUL!! Its great to know that Creations by Michié has a beginning smocking book…we were familiar with her patterns, but weren’t aware of this other resource.
Okay…we had to update our original blog post with Creations by Michié!!
I’m looking forward to seeing what else you two have to say about this! I recently saw something that looked like a mix of American and English smocking- it was pleated first, but by hand, and the smocking stitches were done after the entire piece was pleated. That’s how I was planning on ‘testing the waters’ for my first go at smocking, but the article I originally read has vanished. I might ‘wing it’ and try that method anyway. =)
We are tickled you want to “give it a try!!” And, yes, many smockers pleat by hand prior to smocking….we haven’t yet!! Maybe we can find some resources for you regarding this method…we’ll be on the lookout!
That would be awesome! Thank you. =)
Thank you so much for all your smocking tutorials and videos. I’ve just finished a smocked bishop, and I could not have done it without your help. If you’d like to see it, here’s a link to my blogpost:
http://stylememary.blogspot.com/2016/03/a-smocked-bishop-for-easter.html
Thanks again for sharing so much of your knowledge!
Mary