December 1, 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
.
From Our Readers
"Is wool crepe a smockable fabric? I can think of pros and cons to it?"
Yes it is smockable. You have your choice of using needlepoint wool to smock with or perle cotton or if you want a flashy look I would go with rayon floss.
* * *
Picture Smocking with Perle Cotton:
"Can I pick your brain for a minute? I've heard that pearle cotton smocks up easily and quickly esp. for pic. smocking. I'm finally almost ready to smock the cuff of this stocking for DD and would glady do anything to save time (i.e. stripping and adjusting floss) if the quality is good. Thanks ahead for any advice you may have. Josie"
Dear Josie,
Yes perle cotton is good for picture smocking but I would go with rayon ribbon floss myself. It will cover your area faster. Rhode Island Textiles makes it and I know it's in the major fabric chain stores. Use short lengths, 18" long as pulling it through fabric tends to fray the ribbon. Also make sure that you remember to move your needle along the ribbon and not just hang out on one spot - it frays there as well.
Hope this helps, Beth
* * *
"Dear Beth-Katherine, Thanks for the opportunity to ask questions! Can you give me literature tips for doing smocked Easter eggs? I remember seeing kits for them in fabric/craft stores about 15 years ago (LONG before I learned to smock), but not since then. I tried making one myself but it was a catastrophe. The biggest problem was trying to fit the pleated fabric onto the Styrofoam egg at the top and bottom. The project ended up looking more like a celophane-wrapped bonbon. Any tips you have would be very welcome. I can even imagine making these for different seasons, not just Easter, as pretty decorations to hang on a window or whatever. Thanks, Debbie Behle"
Debbie,
I went back through some of my old SAGA magazines and found a couple of styles of smocked eggs. There was a book out by Barbie Beck about Easter Eggs but I haven't seen it available for a while. Someone out there may have an extra copy.
Placing an differently shaped piece of Styrofoam within a rectangle has it's construction difficulties. It's not going to go in there easily without some manipulation and a needle and a thread on your part. One of the ways I found was to place the egg shape horizontal to the pleats instead of vertical, so that the closure of the rectangle is on the wide side of the shape instead of the pointed ends.
Another way was to make it look like a firecracker with fabric on both ends with ribbon tying the egg into the ends. The fabric ends are about 1 to 2" long. I imagine you would tie off your pleating threads at the end real tight in a circle and then hand stitch it closed before you attached the ribbon.
Does anyone have any suggestions on this?
* * *
Looking for Doll Pattern to Smock for a Beginner
I knit and sew for my daughter's American Girl Doll, and would like to try a smocking pattern from Fancywork's patterns. I have done a little Counterchange on gingham. Should I get some "dot paper" and try an Easy Bishop pattern? If so, do you carry the dot paper? Which of your books do you recommend as a good source for a beginner smocker, but experienced knitter/sewer/quilter? Enjoyed the info on your site very much! Thanks, Nancy Reed
Dear Nancy,
First of all thank you for your kind words, I'm working on making the site as informative as possible.
I wouldn't recommend a bishop for your first smocking project, especially since you are going to pick up dots - so many to pick up. Instead I would suggest a basic yoke dress, by the same designer. If you already have the pattern well then go ahead but realize that there are some considerations to be aware of. First of all to adjust your tension from tight to looser as you move down the rows, this helps keep your 'round' shape round. Otherwise if you smock with the same tension all the way through you'll end up with what is known as a turtle neck (a smocked tube).
There are a couple of good beginner's books. The first is by Ellen McCarn - On English Smocking, the second is English Smocking by Grace Knott - both of these books are reviewed on my website in the books section (Books).
Dots are located in the notions section right under pleaters. http://members.aol.com/garfairies/notions.html.
* * *
Beginning Smocking Questions, Rows and Half Spaces:
"I haven't done smocking before, but I found a small project I'd like to try. It's a dress for an 18" doll with smocking around the neckline. The instructions with the project are pretty minimal, but I have a couple of needlework encyclopedias with good sections on smocking, so I thought I'd be OK. But there are some things in the instructions that still baffle me:
It says to "pleat 6 half-space rows". What's a half-space? And does half-space refer to the distance between rows or the distance between adjacent dots? There's no other indication of what size to make the pleats. The photograph of the model makes it look like the height of the smocked area is about one and a half inches, so I'm guessing I should use 1/4" to 5/16" between rows.
The sketch next to that instruction clearly shows 5 gathering threads. Wouldn't 6 rows imply 6 threads? The chart for the design confirms that there are 6 rows.
After you smock the design, it says to "backsmock the top row to stabilize the neckline." What is backsmocking?
Thanks for your help, Judy Daniluk
Dear Judy,
I am glad to answer your questions about smocking.
'Half-space rows' refers to the spaces on your pleater for extra needles to pleat the "half-spaces". These are usually unmarked by pleating threads so you have to 'eyeball' your half spaces when doing certain stitches. We sometimes pleat half-spaces to make it easier to find the half space between the rows or to utilize them as you would regular rows. Smocking in miniature really. For example, if you are smocking a preemie gown or baby gown or doll dress you really want your smocking to be smaller in proportion than you would if smocking for a larger size or adult.
Graphic
row 1 _____________________________
row 1 1/2 -----------------------------
row 2 ______________________________
unfortunately this is not a true representation but row 1 1/2 is exactly between rows 1 and 2.
"The sketch next to that instruction clearly shows 5 gathering threads. Wouldn't 6 rows imply 6 threads? The chart for the design confirms that there are 6 rows."
This is obviously a printing mistake. Yes there should be six rows shown.
"After you smock the design, it says to 'backsmock the top row to stabilize the neckline.' What is backsmocking?"
Back-smocking is a technique of smocking the very top row using the outline or stem stitch which holds your pleats singularly, instead of the cable stitch which holds them in pairs. Backsmocking is done on the back when areas on front are not smocked and therefore need to have the pleats held in place - such as with picture smocking and some floral motifs.
Stabilizing a neckline with backsmocking, especially a bishop (round yoke design) is very important because it helps keep the shape of your neckline while stitching your bias neckline. Also Elizabeth Travis Johnson, a well-known smocking and sewing instructor, recommends that you do your "backsmocking" for neck stabilization on the front to hold the pleats better.
For further information keep an eye out on my website on the stitches page I am building up a section of smocking stitches with graphics as well as instructions for making the stitches and will include basic information about bishops and basic yoke dresses.
* * *
Some interesting Websites I've found:
Dutch Fabrics on line I found this nifty website that sells Dutch Fabrics, the same as the national dress. http://www.combiweb.com
Regency Clothing Pattern Website
I was wandering around the web and came upon this site which has a pattern for a Regency Dress. The whole site is quite fun http://www.pemberley.com/pemb/adaptations/regency/messages/1634.html
Society for Creative Anachronism Here is the URL for them: http://www.SCA.org
* * *
Washing Fabrics - Information from Nine Patch News Recently there was a survey in Nine Patch News regarding pre-washing fabrics before quilting. There was some interesting information about different fabrics and washing techniques and reasons for pre-washing that I thought I would pass the tips along even though we aren't quilting but deal with fabrics all the same.
A lot of comments agreed that pre-washing in warm water and drying in a hot dryer was the best for finding the true grain and shrinking.
Color bleeding was another issue. If you don't pre-wash certain colors will bleed, such as the reds and burgundys.
"I prewash my fabrics to get rid of sizing and also other chemicals such as formaldehyde to protect my hands. "
Gosh this is the number one reason for pre-washing fabric that is going next to the skin of you and your children.
Water quality was also brought up. Some parts of the country have hard water and other places have soft water. According to one source fabrics washed in soft water tend to bleed more than in areas with hard water.
The use of a vinegar rinse was also mentioned as a way of removing detergent residue and soap scum. "If there's running of dye. I soak in salt and baking soda until the color stops running."
Here are some Websites about washing fabrics to look at:
* * *
" Every morning is the dawn of a new error. "