Smocking Newsletter Vol. 1 Issue 4
March 31, 1997
e-Mail: mainfairy@smockingbooks.com
Website: Garden Fairies Smocking & Needlearts Catalog
Smocking Newsletter - Beth-Katherine Kaiman, copyright 1997-2007, 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:
From our Readers
Smocking History
Smocking Stitches
ONE LAST THING ON COPYRIGHTS: ARTIST'S POINT OF VIEW
One more word on copyrights. In my other lifetime (bc - before child) I have my degree in Music Composition. It is during my music major days way before graduation I had written a piece for oboe, piano, flute, guitar, bassoon, cimbales, gong and cello and performed it at a student concert for my final exam, called "The Dance of the Unicorn" - corny, I know. A pretty piece in segments, like some of my compositions, very melodic and quirky. I had tuned down my guitar to Eb to accommodate the oboe and bassoon and after my performance a young man came up to me to ask how I had tuned my guitar. As I told him part of me was flattered that he had taken so much interest in my music - 9 years later I was to find out why. I was sitting in my mother's living room mindlessly watching TV, relaxing after putting the baby down, when I heard this pretty piece of music. How lovely I thought humming along, oboe & cello duet. Now where have I heard that before? Before I realized that it was MY PIECE, the credits flew by and I didn't get the name of the twit who had stolen it. That twit was the one who came up to me after my performance stole a segment from my piece, claimed it as his own and sold it to the producers of the TV show "Jake and the Fatman". Geez he must have made at least $500 on that trailer - my inspiration and perspiration in composing it and perfecting it, my credit as a composer and MY MONEY!!!! I waited in vain for the re-runs of that show during the summer and never got the name of that thief but I told you this story because I wanted you to have the artists/designers point of view for consideration. - Beth
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AND NOW FROM OUR READERS:
From Dabbler49
Dear Beth,
Love the information on what the smocked outfits are going for in different areas. Real interesting, the differences in the price ranges. Considering the work involved, the Conn. prices seem to be closer to the "real cost", Myra
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From our textile expert Ashoni who is keeping me on my historical toes, thank you very much:
In a message dated 97-04-09 17:34:28 EDT, you write:
"As far as the shirring, it is my understanding that shirring is basically a gathering stitch not patterned stitches such as seen on the painting in question. However my image is only a black and white, half toned image so I cannot say for certain that the stitches are or are not patterned - except that when I looked at it closely it appeared to be in a pattern and since there is not written history that I can find on smocking I made the leap trying to put a time frame and lineage of the art."
Hi Beth,
If you look in Keay's book on page 152, you will find a description and photographs of Italian shirring. As you can see, this is a very textural technique. The surviving example in Switzerland, dated from the mid-eleventh century, is very like the top piece, except that it is several rows of diamonds. This is not to say that smocking as we know it did not exist at the time of the Memling painting, but there is no documentation of it. The words themselves, having changed so much over the intervening centuries, do not have any specific meaning.
There is a Cranach painting from about 1506 (Child with St. Dorothea, Agnes & Kunigunde), which has a woman in a bodice which looks smocked (and my guess is that it is smocked because of the simplicity of line), but might be embroidery on top of shirring which is a different thing entirely. This latter technique seems to have been used a lot, with many different stitches, such as pattern- darning (Holbein 1516 'Portrait of Jacob Meyer), elaborate metal-thread techniques (Cuff of the Coronation Shirt of Louis II, 1526), and a possible naturalistic embroidery or smocking pattern (Streigel 1525, 'Portrait of a Woman'). There is also a Durer portrait of 1520 of a man whose shirt collar I am reasonable certain is smocked, as it has that stretchy, un-constructed look of smocking.
I agree that the reproduction of the Memling makes it very difficult to see what is actually there. There are at least two other paintings which show a similar treatment of the top of a gore, and are equally poorly reproduced. One is by an artist who was not a terrific draftsman. Every other reproduction of the Memling I have been able to find is also in black-and-white, and not as good as this one. One of my goals is to see the painting itself, and perhaps then be able to see the details. Memling at least was a good draftsman. Until then, what is available for documentation is the surviving example. Italian shirring is a far more complex technique than smocking as we know it, and this gives it a provenance.
I hope my stringency on the accuracy thing has not put you off. Personally I find research more fascinating that jigsaw puzzles, another of my passions. History is a lazy author. Its like a great detective novel in which you are given only scantly clues, and have to solve the puzzle by yourself. Regards, Asha
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Asha - again I thank you for keeping me on my toes, so to speak, as I told you my degrees are in Music and Poetry and my purpose of these history lessons is to see if I can spark the creative minds out there into designing something lovely for us all to wear while at the same time giving us a sense of our smocking history. Going back to the beginnings of a subject is a habit I have since teaching guitar to beginning students and their incessant questions "Why?". So I hope that you will feel free to enlighten us all about textile history at any point, this after all is a newsletter that I had hope to become interactive with everyone's comments and questions.--Beth
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From RobertH436: Regarding the question in newsletter about a 32-row Read pleater that wouldn't pleat center section-- I'm not sure, but I heard that those pleater bars were so long that they sometimes tended to sag in the middle because of the length and weight. Read pleater bars are brass, and heavier than the aluminum ones. The 16- and 24-row pleaters don't sag..
That is probably why CD 149 (M.P. Cobb) is having problems.
(Does that make sense?) Sara
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From PLACIDO O:
Hey Beth,
I found the article on counterchange for doll clothes. It is in SB Holiday '96, pg 40 for 18 in dolls.
Also, I have something for Show and Share. I am making a sz. 2 bishop pinafore from Chery Williams pattern ,with the butterfly sleeves edged in a narrow tatting-type trim, out of white Victorian batiste smocked with DMC #666 red and the colors of Raggedy Ann-royal blue, white, yellow, and bright orange for her hair. I could not find a smocking plate small enough to suit me so I am using the red double borders from "Rolled Gold" from The Best of A,S,&E .In between these borders I am using part of a plate by Debbie Glenn called "Apple Pickin' School Days Sampler" from SB , Fall '93, pg. 56. It has little doll figures that I am going to use and substitute the Raggedy Ann colors alternating with little red hearts. The underbrush is 1/8 in. red gingham with a self ruffle around the neck also edged in the tatted-type trim. I was thinking if I made a pair of panties to match the pinafore it would be a cool little sundress for summer as the pinafore will button all the way down the back. Then when fall comes I plan to make a light blue denim A-line jumper with a Raggedy Ann pocket so the red gingham underdress can be worn like a blouse. That pattern is the old McCall's which I had saved from my daughters' childhood. Am I crazy or what?? - Sally
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From Yoyager 36: Dear Beth, I agree with your article on attaching the piping ! It is so much easier to sew the piping to the yoke, press it under and then top stitch it in the ditch to the smocked piece (I don't even bother to baste first-comes out beautiful every time). One bit more I would like to add - I solved my counting pleats problem using a suggestion from one of the chats and expanding on it. I now use those little gold safety pins and count and mark the pleats. Simply count pleats placing a safety pin after the number of pleats you've decided on (10 is good to start). If you're lucky you will come out with the right amount at the end. If not add the number of remaining pleats to the number you were counting by (10 or whatever you decided) and divide by 2, this will tell you how many pleats you should have in first and last group and then you readjust the rest of the pins accordingly. After this it is a lot easier to find the center point. You can mark that with a different size or color safety pin to make it easier if you need to. You can also use this to mark for geometric pattern repeats by counting by the repeat number-say you have a pattern that repeats after every 15 pleats, just count by that number.
The pin idea helps also in applying the piped yoke evenly to the smocked front. Take the total number of pleats and divide by 4 then count that many pleats and mark with a straight pin across (remove safety pins). Fold the piped yoke in half and then in half again then mark the three folds with a straight pin. Now you line up the 3 pin markers from the yoke and the dress and spread the pleats out evenly and you're ready to stitch ! - Dawn
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Beth,
I just read the newsletter in which you included a chat about pleaters. It discussed the half space rows of a Pullen vs Amanda Jane. I have a Pullen 16 and it had 21 needle half row spaces. I also have the AJ 24 needle it has 23 needle half row spaces. I don't see 2 rows as being that big of a deal. I have used all 24 rows for a few things. Full bodice smocking for a size 5 dress. But then I have also had to put fabric through the Pullen 3 times to get the rows I needed for a blouse for me. If I were to pick the pleater I most like it would be the Pullen, it turns very easy, pleats just about anything, I have no complaints at all about it. The Amanda Jane however I dearly hate!! It turns very hard, so I can only pleat one or two items a day. Very hard on the wrist. It constantly skips pleats, and never in the same place twice. I have replaced every single needle in it to see if they were the trouble.
I also make smocked clothes for sale. I am able to get my fabric very cheap. I do prefer the 60/40 blend of poly/cotton. I remember when my children were small. I did not have time nor the energy to be ironing baby clothes. These fabrics will wash and wear well for a long time. I charge $25.00 for a infant - toddler 4 dress. The prices go up from there. I am very fast when it comes to smocking, and construction is quick for me too. I do not think I have more than 3 hours into any one outfit. As a rule. I am not making my living at this, but it has supported my smocking habit. And will be buying my new sewing machine and serger this fall. Just my opinion. - Michelle
Thoughts on how embroidery came about
Today I would like to begin with a speculation on how the process of embroidering upon pleats possibly came about. So far we have traced smocking back to 14th century England with literary references by "Chaucer who describes a woman wearing a smock in the Miller's Tale in 1386. . . . This passage describes the smock as being white and embroidered both on the front and the back and on the collar in coal-black silk" Diana Keay 'The Book of Smocking'. And "the earliest references to a smock in art is shown in the Luttrell Psalter (circa 1340) in which a man ploughing is depicted wearing a loose garment of a smock type." ibid. Although Ashoni pointed out that smocking was derived from Italian shirring, I think not. The samples I saw in Diana Keay"s book dated back to the 14th century, but I think that we shall never know really because of the fact that fabrics were used over and over again until worn through, and then the worn threads were most likely re-spun into whole thread and rewoven. The other factor that hinders the history of textiles is the fact that most of the fibers have deteriorated. It is through luck that the few items we have from the past survived (although the Ludlow man wouldn't call it luck to have been dumped into the peat bog so long ago - but we call it luck because we can see what was worn during his era).
In order to understand the creative mind back then we really have to look at the influences that inspired the embroiderers' minds. Keep in mind that the embroideries and fabrics from the near/middle east (Turkey, Egypt, Phoenicia, Arabia, Greece etc.) had long been traded (not necessarily affordable) with Western Europe through already established trade routes, but it was the journeys of Marco Polo into China which changed the fabric of the European mind as the sumptuous silk embroideries of the Asian continent became more readily available. Patterned embroidery in the middle east has always been beautiful and sumptuous, with the tradition stretching far back in time as far as the imagination leads us. The earliest piece of embroidery, that I have seen in books, is from the 5th century Coptic (Egyptian) portrait worked in wool with the chain stitch. (An earlier piece was a beaded picture from the 1st century BC, but that's another newsletter.) The chain stitch was the primary embroidery stitch used but cross stitch, whipped running stitch, satin stitch, split stitch and the stem stitch were also found. I think that women on the British isles, wanting to create something beautiful of their own, came up with smocking on pleats because (1) they had seen embroidery on pleats; (2) they were experimenting with new ways to contain the fabric. Note that the stem stitch has been around since the Egyptians and we know it is the oldest smocking stitch around, so it's very plausible that the ladies who experimented with holding pleats in place realized that the stem stitch, and perhaps the chain, held the pleats together the best. Why the stem stitch became the first popular smocking stitch is very easy to understand, while the chain stitch works holding the pleats together it uses up a lot of floss, something that was not acceptable when it meant that you had to hand spun your own floss, or trade your favorite cow for it on the next market day. (Now trading that darned cat might be appealing, maybe, but not the cow).
The origin of the other stitches obviously came to being by observation of other types of embroideries and weaving. Some of the beauteous pieces from Turkey were couched threads in patterns, notably the diagonal couching pattern (which is identical to the smocking stitch the trellis) or the diamond couching pattern (which is our wave stitch). More than any other type of embroidery stitch I feel that the process of laying down threads (tubes or pleats) and then stitching over them (smocking stitches) to keep them in place lead to the inspiration of smocking. It's really not so far of a leap to think that some enterprising woman observed beautiful embroidery from another culture and tried to imitate it onto her art form. Even today we look at stitches done by other cultures to gain inspiration. I'm sure that copyrights didn't stop her but rather a sense of individuality or even cultural sameness moved her to experiment with these new ideas she had found. Look at the effect that the first exhibition of Japanese art had on the clothing and furniture designers and the artists of the Art Nouveau period.
What also could have influenced the first smocking lady were the patterns from weaving. We will really never know but I hope that my speculations have triggered something in your minds.
SMOCKING STITCHES: THE WAVE/BABY WAVE/TRELLIS
Wave/Trellis Stitch -Baby wave - The next stitch we are going to explore is the wave stitch and it's variants the Baby wave & Trellis. This is another old pattern seen on old paintings with what Ashoni calls Italian shirring. This stitch(s) are the next logical progression in smocking. As I explained above the wave stitch looks identically like the diamond couching pattern from Turkey.
Here is the rule for traveling, floss up when you are moving down, floss down when you are moving up If you can remember this simple rule your stitches will be perfect. (The next thing to remember is to always keep your needle parallel to the pleating threads, especially when you are travelling.) The wave is the first stitch which travels down and up and is completed between two rows. You first must look at the space between (for ex.) row 1 and row 2. Using your imagination divide this space into four equal parts, row one counts as the first part, use your needle as a marker for your mind's eye to place these spaces. When you can see this space in sections begin with an up cable stitch on the row (so that you floss ends in the down position), flip your floss up and take a stitch on the next pleat (remember: needle parallel to pleating thread) at the quarter space. Move to the next pleat and at the half-space take a stitch. Move to the next pleat make a stitch at the next quarter space. Move to the next pleat and make a down cable. Your floss will end in the up position. Flip your floss down and travel up repeating the same pattern, but opposite of what you have just done until you reach the next row.
The Baby Wave is called that because it is only worked between the row and the half-space between the next row and the primary row. You only work a cable, stitch at the half-space, then complete your cable at the half-space. Another variation is to go to the quarter space, half-space complete a cable, go up to the quarter space, then the row and complete your cable.
The Trellis stitch is worked on the quarter spaces and you can make them as long as the design requires before you completing the final cable stitch. There are also three, five or seven space cables where you divide you space between the rows into three, five or seven sections. (Very difficult to keep even, at least for me.)
A tidbit to share: "Every time you lick a stamp, you're consuming 1/10 of a calorie." No wonder I gained weight running my mail order business, all those catalogs ... all those stamps!!! (na'ah it was the chocolate)