SMOCKING NEWSLETTER VOL 3 ISSUE 9 9/3/00
Welcome to the smocking newsletter from Garden Fairies Trading Company, my
name is Beth-Katherine Kaiman. This newsletter comes to you once a week,
usually on Mondays. Please address all comments and questions to
GarFairies@aol.com. Also, please find listed at the end of this newsletter
the books and patterns we carry that were mentioned in this newsletter,
please check out our web site:
http://www.smockingstore.com
Give us a try, we're user friendly.
Smocking Newsletter - Beth-Katherine Kaiman, copyright@2000, all rights
reserved. Please respect my creativity and request permission before you use
something I've written.
Garden Fairies Trading Company ¥ PO Box 2596 ¥ Clearlake, CA 95422 ¥
707-995-9337
web site: http://www.smockingstore.com<
/A>
email: mainfairy@smockingbooks.com
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
What's New at the Garden Fairies? - go to this page:
http://www.smockingstore.com/
whatsnew.html
We have spent a lot of time scanning in almost all the smocking plates we
carry. Check out our Smocking Designers
page. Soon we hope to have posted all of the pictures of the plates we
carry (in print as well as out of print ones) .
Australian Smocking and Embroidery #52 will be here on Thursday, all
automatics to be shipped immediately. If you wish to sign up for our
automatic shipping program please go to our secure order form. Two new
infant patterns from Primrose Lane (Daniel) and Wendy Schoen (Baby Sacque,
Bonnet & Booties).
Check out our new website secure order form. Sign up for our sale flyer and mailing list.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * *
In This Issue:
How to get started in Smocking
First of all you really should learn the basic stitches and principles of
smocking on a sampler piece before attempting your first project, otherwise you will be unhappy with the results and may be turned off smocking forever. Practice does make perfect in this case. (Many ladies I know have several sampler pieces going with different stitches worked in various patterns even though they have been smocking for years.)
Once you understand the simple principles of smocking (what is a pleat, how to get the fabric pleated, what are rows, what are half spaces, what's a quarter space or step, etc.) the next step is to decide what project you are going to work on. I always suggest to my students that they pick a project that is feasible to their skills. Often times ladies are inspired by the beauties they see in Sew Beautiful, Creative Needle and AS&E which are loaded with bullions or other embellishments. While these projects are easy for the advanced smocker (advanced meaning having a few projects under their belt), the beginner smocker (unless extremely motivated) will inevitably stop their project because of the amount of time that it takes to complete.
What you want to do is pick out a project that doesn't have a lot of rows of smocking or embellishments so you can finish it in a short amount of time and bask in that wonderful feeling of accomplishment. Then move onto another project that is a bit more challenging and will develop either your smocking skills or sewing skills. Please don't "bite off more than you can chew" because odds are you will put your project down and add it to that UFO drawer or closet (depending on how addicted you are to learning new things). Take the time to be patient with yourself and pace the learning of these new skills with your enthusiasm. There is nothing more satisfying to finish a project and then move onto another. As Oprah says, "You go girl."
WHAT TO MAKE ONCE YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE BASICS OF SMOCKING?
If your sewing skills are at a minimum I would suggest making a Christmas ball ornament as there is very little sewind of my newsletter with suggestions for Christmas ornament patterns.)
Next I would suggest a rectangular or square pillow as only straight seams are required and the only tricky part is attaching the piping and mitering corners.
If sewing isn't much of a problem I would then suggest working one of the
following in what we call straight smocking as your first project. (We
call it straight smocking because the shape of the item is straight instead
of shaped into the round.)
1) A smocked apron is simple and easy to sew, most all of us learned how to sew an apron in school and adding smocking to the mix isn't hard at all. I would suggest using a geometric pattern that you can stretch out somewhat as you don't really want your apron to be too full. (Oh and yes you can stretch out smocking somewhat to make some interesting effects with smocked diamonds.)
2) Adding in an insert to a garment or commercial patterns is not hard, you just have to learn how to do piping. (See "Adapting Commercial Patterns for the Smocked Insert" by Diana Bruce of Creative Keepsakes). Adding in an insert to a garment solves the problem of too many pleats (and therefore fullness) when working picture smocking, or when you wish to have an accent color added to your garment (insert white, garment fabric blue) or if you are working a button on shirt and pants/skirt outfit (Chery William's Button-on Suit pattern). Boy's tend to prefer garments that are form fitting rather than too full so the insert is the perfect solution. (Oh and boys do like smocking, they just don't like the frou frou fullness.)
3) A basic yoke dress, one of the classic designs for the past 80 years.
Suitable for young girls from the ages of 1 to 10 (if you're lucky age 12)
and for dolls of all sizes, this style has a couple of variations from the
high yoke to low yoke to full bodice smocking. The sewing of the basic yoke dress IS challenging to the beginner sewer but not impossible when you follow the basic rules of sewing.
Setting in sleeves is the one thing that I have heard from ladies across the
country as their personal bugaboo but if you get the right sleeve into the
right armhole and the left sleeve into the left armhole you should have too much problems. Also if you make your notches on both pattern pieces (bodice and sleeve) and match them up while pinning the sleeves will go in like butter.
Other variations of the basic yoke dress are smocking alongside a front
placket and smocking at the waistline.
Once you have mastered the challenges of straight smocking then it's time to move onto smocking in the round. In dresses or blouses we call this Bishop Smocking. While the sewing of bishops is easier and less complicated than basic yoke dresses, the tricky part of smocking in the round is the shaping of the pleats into your round shape and learning how to adjust your tension of your stitches as you move on outward to the edge of the circle. The stitches closest to the center of the circle will be very tight while those at the edge of the circle are loosest. (Most smocking design plates for bishops have been designed especially to help with this loosening of tension with the very tight stitches of the outline or cable stitches at the top down to the loose trellises at the bottom.)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"To the uneducated, an A is just three sticks." - Eeyore
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
For Sale: LeClerc 36" 4 shaft/harness counterbalance floor model loom with
all the accessories, warping board, bench, book some yarn and video,
approximately 10 years old for sale in Northern California (Clearlake). $550
or best offer. You pick up or arrange a meeting in Santa Rosa or as far as
San Francisco. Shipping to parts beyond is difficult as the loom has to be
dismantled but if you want to arrange it that's fine with us. Call Beth at
Garden Fairies for more info and pictures.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Beginning Smocking Texts:
"On English Smocking" - Ellen McCarn $12.00
A wonderful beginning smocking book. If you read what Ellen has to say it's
almost like she's right behind you watching your every move.
English Smocking - Grace Knott $12.00
Excellent book. Beautiful new geometric smocking designs perfect for the
beginner.
"Picture Smocking" - Ellen McCarn $12.00
Smocking for Pleasure - Madeline Bird & Margie Prestedge $23.00
The Pleater Manual by Sarah Douglas $14.00 (Sub-title: A Comprehensive Guide
to the Use of the Smocking Pleater).
Australian Smocking &
Embroidery Magazine #52 $12.50 + $3.95 shipping (order three different
issues of this magazine and the shipping is the same)
* * *
Christmas Smocking
Little Stitches
Smocked Christmas Characters Ornament booklet $5.00
American Hand
Ornament Plates $3.50
A Garden of Smocking - Christmas Ball $3.00, Mistletoe Ball $3.00, Smocked
Bells $3.00
* * *
Basic Yoke Patterns
Chery Williams $12.50 each ( Infant 3-24 months, Girls 2-6, Girls 6-12)
Ellen McCarn $12.00 each (Girls 3months - 4, 5-14)
Ginger Snaps Designs $12.00 (Girls 6mo - 12)
Pitter Patter Emily $12.00 Girls 1-12
Collars Etc. $12.00 Yoke Dress Girls 1-4 and 5-8 (coming in September)
* * *
All of these books and patterns are available from GarFairies@aol.com.
Please e-mail me with your order and I'll return back with shipping
information. If there is anything that you need in the way of smocking
supplies I hope that you will consider using our business. Give us a try we
are user friendly.
For more goodies than what we have listed here in the newsletter please go to
my website http://www.smockingstore.com
Garden Fairies Trading Company * P.O. Box 2596 * Clearlake, CA 95422 *
phone and fax# 707-995-9337
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Smocking Newsletter is a copyrighted entity of Garden
Fairies Trading Company. Please ask permission before you
quote something. GarFairies@aol.com