September 27, 1997
e-Mail: mainfairy@smockingbooks.com
Website: Garden Fairies Smocking & Needlearts Catalog
Smocking Newsletter - Beth-Katherine Kaiman, copyright 1997-2004, all rights reserved. Please respect my creativity and hard work and ask permission before you copy something from these newsletters for your non profit goup, I always ask that you quote me correctly and give me credit with a way for people to get back to me. Thank you. IF you wish to quote me in a venture for profit please contact me separately concerning royalties.
In This Issue:
Interesting Websites
Costume Society of America Website
For those of you who are interested in costumes there is a new usenet group dedicated to the subject: alt.history.costuming "This newsgroup has been created by The Costume Society of America which is dedicated to the study, interpretation and presentation of all aspects of costume and dress recently went on-line with its first website: http://www.culturenet.ca/costumesocietyamerica/
"The CSA currently has about 3000 members and many more people are interested in the subject of historical costuming. Frequently discussions are cross posted on USENET and email lists relating to various aspects of dress and costume for different time periods. A frequent question concerns the cut of garments and appropriate textiles and fabrics. Also of concern is preservation."
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More on Vintage Clothes: Here is a new web site that is fun. A vintage clothing collector shares her experiences and interesting information and pictures of her collection. Also visit the Feature Showcase for a new selection of Victorian clothing for sale. Items include a mourning outfit, dresses, beaded cape, shoes, and much more! The FEATURE is listed on the first page of Victorian Elegance, http://gator.net/~designs/
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If you want to see really old embroidery there is a site called Museum Masterpieces in the needlearts mall on the net with pictures. http://www.needlearts.com/
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More on the Purple Stain trauma
More on the continuing saga of getting stains out of clothes: Beth, I tried some stuff called "carbona". It took out all the purple from the overalls just fine. Unfortunately it also took out the turq. from my shorts and shirt. Oh well. At least they weren't smocked clothes! Thanks for your help. Meg Ross
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This for the lady who asked about the smocked sash:
Beth, I forgot to mention to the person that asked about the smocked sash like Strasburgs. I made my own. I pleated and smocked an insert, I let the plate determine the number of rows then I put piping on the top and bottom and the added the sashes and then I lined the back of the insert. I used my sash around a basket that I made for a new mom. I didn't have time to make a dress and she is a fantastic smocker so I thought a dress might be overkill. I filled the basket with lotion and bubble bath for her, since this was her second girl I didn't know of anything she needed for the baby and she really enjoyed it. Evelyn
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I wrote to Debbie and told her that I was asking Sarah Douglas about your question on pleating ratios. Sarah Douglas is coming this Sunday (9/28/97) to give the ladies on AOL a chat about Pleating and Pleaters. I know that you ladies off of AOL would just love to come and chat with her so if you have any questions about your pleater please e-mail them to me and I'll forward them on to her and get them answered for you. Mind you she just might say look in her manual on page such and such, but you never know there just might be something she hasn't thought of (get real Beth). Oh and if you would like a log from that chat or her handout just let me know and I'll send it off to you for your files.
Dear Beth, Thanks so much for looking into this for me. I get Sew Beautiful and it seems that they think you just should know how much fabric to pleat to get X number of inches. I have done some that seemed awfully tight and others that seemed too loose and just want a general number so I will know where to start. Four to one sounds about right for light fabrics, I think. One other thing I noticed was that Sew Beautiful says to do some stitching across the top and bottom before smocking. You take it out after the smocking is done, I think. Can you explain this to me? Debbie
Geez Debbie I really have no idea why they suggest that. The only thing that I can think of is to keep the pleats tamed. I know that sometimes when I pre-maturely take out the pleating thread I can go back and do a row of long stitches with my machine to gather up the pleats and that works. I'll pass this one on to Sarah as well for the answer. (Unless someone else out there can answer this question.)
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More comments on Debbie Glenn's Smock a Plate
"I have tried Debbie Glenn's Smock a Plate also, but have a different complaint than Mickey. They're sticky! The top surface has kind of upraised ink, and so it sticks to the binder I use to keep my plates it, it sticks to the covered pages (I use plastic sleeve protectors for my plates) and leaves its imprint also. They are suitable for large designs, but are kind of problematical, too--for instance, I found some Spot the Dog fabric and wanted to do a plate to match, 10-12 rows. However, for it to fit my 20-month old, I found the size I used for Spot was much too large; it needed to fit on 8 rows, max. Do I use another sheet (at $1 per) or try to do it on the same one? If I do it on the same one, I can't design a border around it because the other Spot is offset toward the top. They should also be the same size as a regular smocking plate, not as large as they are, for the reason I just mentioned, Kathleen"
Kathleen, couldn't you just then take the image you colored in to the local xerox store and have them reduce it to the size you wanted?
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How to work a Thread Caddy for your pleater
Dear Beth, I have a question for you: right now I am totally frustrated with trying to use the smocking genie I just received. It has no instructions with it, and for the life of me, I can't figure out how to thread it and then get the pleated fabric off without cutting all the threads."
The Smocking Genie is a brand of a thread caddy. It's a nifty way of holding spools of thread or bobbins underneath your pleater. That way you don't have to measure out threads each time you pleat. We carry a different brand of thread caddies but the principal is the same. The way I thread my pleater is to use a needle threader and pull the threads up from the bottom and pull out about a four or five inch length that will be doubled over when the pleated fabric comes off of the needles of the pleater. When I am finished pleating I then gently tug on the top thread on the pleater needle, which is the folded over edge, and when it pulls out I then un-thread the needle(s) and voila! my fabric is off of the needle and the thread intact. I hope this explanation helps. Also you might consider getting The Pleater Manual by Sarah Douglas, which will walk you though each step of the way handling your pleater. It is $14.00 + $1.50 shipping.
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Dear Beth, I have done various pieces for nieces, but as they get older, choice becomes limited. I would also like to make stuff for myself. Can you recommend books or other resources that talk about adapting patterns for smocking."
This is a very good question. There is one book out by Creative Keepsakes called Adapting Commercial Patterns for Smocking but it mostly talks about adapting a commercial pattern for adding smocked inserts for children's clothes. There was a really neat booklet out years ago by O.U. KIDDE but it's out of print now. This question fits into what I am asking Sarah Douglas about concerning the pleating ratios. *See Above on Pleater Chat*
"What did the Buddhist Monk say to the hot dog vendor?
"Make me one with everything.""