June 12, 1997
Website: Garden Fairies Smocking & Needlearts Catalog
Smocking Newsletter - Beth-Katherine Kaiman, copyright 1997, all rights reserved. Please respect my creativity and hard work and ask permission before you copy something from these newsletters, I always ask that you quote me correctly and give me credit with a way for people to get back to me. Thank you.
Please drop me an e-mail when you get there and let me know what you think,
comments, suggestions and grammar corrections are always
welcomed.
How to get started on Smocking
From: WHINNY1234 - she asked about sewing machines in last issue.
"Dear Beth-Katherine,
Thank you for your newsletter.
I am the proud new owner of a Viking Rose sewing machine and now want to get started learning to smock. I have two girls ages 4 & 6 and would like to sew them some smocked dresses. "
I am so glad you settled on a good sewing machine. Now about your other questions I would recommend getting a beginning smocking book like the one by Ellen McCarn On English Smocking $12.00, Sandy Hunter's Photo Guide to Smocking Stitches $12.00 or Grace Knott's English Smocking $12.00. Either of those books would help you out in your smocking. The Ellen McCarn and Grace Knott (more) come with design plates. These books will get you going with basic geometric smocking. Picture smocking is another story and I don't recommend that you start out with it. when you feel confident with the basic stitches then go ahead with the picture smocking - it's not hard but there are a few tricks that come with experience from geometric smocking. Laura Jenkins Thompson's book Perfect Picture Smocking $15.00 is good as well as Ellen McCarn's Picture Smocking. Ellen's gives you design plates as well as individual motifs and borders so you can design your own plates.
Depending on what you want to smock for your little girls I would suggest that you start with a basic yoke dress Chery Williams sized 2-6 $12.00. It has enough information and variations of designs to keep you smocking for your little girls for years - until they hit the age of ten or so when they refuse to look like little girls anymore and sniff, sniff mama can't smock for them (LOL). After your first couple of yoke dresses you are ready to move on to the bishop style - actually perfect for their ages. There are a couple of great patterns out - Ellen McCarn Bishop $12.00, Chery Williams bishop $12.00 and Pat Garretson Bishop $12.00. CW is the old standby and the other two have been created since then and have more variations. I have heard many good reports on the Ellen McCarn's bishop. Oh and when you are ready for making a bishop I recommend Jane McPherson's Bishop Dress Book. It's excellent and is actually mandatory for making a perfect bishop dress - comes with a neckline guide.
As far as getting The Pleater Manual by Sarah Douglas $14.00- well I think you can hold off on that for a while. Essential but not necessary right now.
With all of the above literature and patterns you are going to be up with the rest of us smocking ladies.
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"Beth,
I just finished a Maderia Applique workshop in which we made lovely collars. We had so much fun that I forgot to ask how we could finish the collar if we didn't have a sewing machine that has pin stitch! I had borrowed a machine for the class and have started another collar but none of my machine stitches will work. Is there a way to do this by hand? Thanks, Cindy"
Cindy, Maderia Applique was originally worked by hand. The sewing machine companies created the pin stitch based on the hand stitches. (I think Martha Pullen had something to do with that.).
Learning the pin stitch is not hard. It's quite easy once you get the rhythm of it. There are a couple of great books on the subject. Heirloom Sewing for Boys (really a mis-named book for sure) contains some of the best instructions I've seen. Also available is a pattern and booklet by Love 'n Stitches Madeira Applique for Dolls, includes collars and hems for the American Girl and Gotz dolls. Another good book is part of Margaret Pierce's French Handsewing Series, Book II - has two pages on the pin stitch and applique techniques. All of these books are on my web site.
* * *
Steaming Pleats in Place and Importance there of
We were discussing pleats and steaming at one of our chats and I thought I should include it in this issue:
GarFairies: setting your pleats by steaming is most important
CD149: I agree, the extra work isn't worth the effort
GarFairies: Have you ever heard my tucks story?
CD149: no
GarFairies: I was working on a dress for myself in cotton and didn't
pay attention to how I had steamed in one
GarFairies: pleat. Of course it was the wrong way
GarFairies: LOL I've had that dress for a year and that tuck still
wants to go in the original direction I steamed
GarFairies: it in no matter how many times I re-steam it. So I know
that steaming is important
CD149: have you ever used water and white vinegar to change the tuck/pleat
direction
GarFairies: no does that work?
CD149: I know it will take out old hem lines it may work, it's worth
a try
GarFairies: is it equal parts of water to vinegar?
CD149: yes, I put it in a spray bottle and keep it on my ironing board
Well I haven't tried it yet but I am going to as soon as I find some vinegar. If anyone has had experience with this please let us know.
* * *
What's the best lace to use on sturdy smocked garments
From B R Birks: "I've prided myself in making sturdy, machine-washable smocked garments, usually no-iron, too. But now that my friend who helps me construct them has taken an heirloom sewing class, we're more interested in adding lace. What kind of laces would be machine washable?"
HEH HEH HEH, sounds like you are about to become addicted to Heirloom Sewing like the rest of us. All of the French and English laces are machine washable however you must wash these in cool water and use a cool iron for them to last. May I also suggest using tatting or other handmade laces. They are usually of sturdier threads and so may last longer in our modern days washing machines. There are also American made cotton laces, known as cluny available as well. I really would avoid the polyester laces as they will fall apart after several washings and eventually over time look like dog dew.
* * *
"Nobody tells me. Nobody keeps me informed. I make it seventeen days come Friday since anybody spoke to me." -- Eeyore
Some times I get the weirdest mail, like the title of one I got the other day: "Great Sex In A Bottle!". Now my mind started working overtime. Hmmm is it like those ships in a bottle? How do you get in there in the first place, and who would want to?