Vol. 1 Issue 3

e-mail: smockingstore@att.net

Garden Fairies Trading Company * P.O. Box 2596 * Clearlake, CA   95422 * 707-995-9337

Inside this issue:  

1) We will beginning to look more into Smocking's History - Bishops

2) Show and Share - A lovely simple hanger to make for our smocked projects

3) Pattern Review - Jamie by Yvonne Denise

Smocking History - More on Bishops

The bishop dress has had an interesting history as the style travelled through the ages.  We know the style that makes up the bishop as the raglan sleeve, as opposed to the set-in-sleeve of regular shirts and bodices.  The evolution of the bishop begins with traceing it's roots in those wonderful roomy undergarments called Chemises which usually showed underneath the overgarments of the Middle Ages through the Renaissance.  The chemise was worn as the undershirt or dress beneath the outer clothing as well as being slept in.  It was made from sheer fabrics, usually linen but could have been out of cotton for the upper classes and was either left plain or highly decorated depending on the mood of the wearer.   The portrait from last issue and the one included in this issue shows a man wearing one of these highly decorated undergarments.

The concept of creating garments out of rectangles is a style which is very familiar to many of us oldsters who were "into" the Ethnic Garments Fashion Trend of the late 60's through 70's.  If you will remember, Hi-Fashion designers such as Zandra Rhodes and Cathy Johnson introduced the mid-calf length maxi dress of 1967-68 as their reaction to the "don't-you-dare-bend-over" short, short Mini dress of previous years. This style was inspired by the long vintage Edwardian White dresses, and long skirts that many of the 'Hippie' ladies wore in San Francisco and New York.  As society responded to the creative upsurgence of the 'Hippie' movement of decorating your clothes with embroidered embellishments we were brought into the Ethnic influenced Nomad Dress or T-Dress as the perfect canvas for our decorations.  This garment dominated the fashions of everyday people in the early 70's as the style of long dresses was a blessing to thoses of us who either were too old to wear a mini or else, as often was the case, didn't have the legs for mini skirts.  While the mini skirt died a quick death (much to the dismay of 'mankind'), the trend of creating "ethnic" style garments out of basic shape rectangles went way into the 80's which such designers as Miranda Stewart, Vyonne Porcella and the pleats lady Lois Erickson as well as many of today's quilted clothing designers.

Note: The company Folkwear patterns, by the way, made their mark on society's style by drafting many ethnic patterns which sparked fashion trends throughout the 70's and 80's. In fact we could almost say that they greatly helped inspire the smocking and heirloom sewing movement with some of their patterns i.e. The English Smock, 1920's Day Dress and the Edwardian Blouse and Wedding Gown and Christening Gown. 

As you can see in the illustration below, the chemise is a simply constructed garment out of a group of rectangles which are put together based on your measurements.  The construction of the chemise is very simple, based on your measurements and created out of rectangles.  

This is a typical chemise from the Italian Renaissance. It was highly decorated with embroidery. As you can see it's very similiar in look to our bishops, with the exception of the gussets under the arms. It was worn underneath the fancy clothing, usually made of linen or some other lightweight material unlike the heavier outer-garments.  (Remember these times were pre-electricity and washing machines so garments that were worn close to the skin were made of relatively thin materials which washed up and dried quickly.) The upper classes wore cotton (as it was expensive cloth in those days) batiste or lawn or else very fine handkerchief linen. This illustration of a chemise from the Italian Renaissance is from the booklet "Cut My Cote".

The German Renaissance Painter Hans Holbien apparently loved smocking because most all of his paintings depicted the stitchery. (Or else it was all the rage of Germany during the Renaissance.)  Interestingly all of the portraits that I have seen with the smocking are on men's shirts, with the exception of Rembrandt's portrait of his wife Sasha (but he's in the Dutch School) which has not only smocking but is smocked with beads.  (When I find a good reproduction of this painting that isn't too dark to scan I will include it in a future issue.)

Here is a painting by Hans Holbein in which the subject is wearing a shirt that is made with in the raglan style. Once this simple style was dropped by the upperclasses and the construction of their garments became more complex, the simply constructed rectangle garment became a garment of choice for the lower classes (peasants). However, undergarments were still made in this style; as I said it's a very comfortable style to wear. What is interesting about this painting is that to my eye it looks like a prototype of today's bishop dresses, what with the smocking and all that, but with the smocking up high on the neckline to make a self collar.  An example of the dreaded "Turkey Neck" done right. For those of you who aren't familiar with the term "Turkey Neck" it refers to a bishop neckline which creeps up the neck showing that the smocker wasn't careful about adjusting her tension as she went down the rows.  A properly smocked bishop dress has the first two or three rows smocked with the same tension but with the remaining rows smocked with a looser tension.  Otherwise the neckline would end up as tight as the one portrayed. Like smocking a cynlinder, same tension all the way around.

The peasant shirts or blouses that many of us are familiar with as Hungarian Blouses are based on this simple rectangle style. Folkwear produces a pattern called the Romanian Peasant Blouse which is very similiar to the ones shown below.

This Hungarian peasant blouse is closer to our  bishop dress as we know it today.  The simple shapes of the rectangles to make up the front, back and sleeves are highly decorated with embroidery. A triangular gusset was added to give more movement which gradually has become  shaped into the  familiar armhole curve of today.  While it is not smocked, many of the peasant blouses that you find from Hungary and Romania from the 1920's till today are.

In Elizabeth Travis Johnson's The Book of Sewing For Children, she thoughtfully includes a section that she taught for years in her adult education smocking classes on constructing bishop dresses from rectangles.  It is fun to look at but personally I prefer a pattern already made up.

Note: Many of you may remember the days when we took out our bishop patterns, cut the garment out and then adjusted for the dip in the front hem by measuring 1/2" from the center front angling up to the top of the center of the sleeves.  With today's bishop patterns the work is done for us already and so we don't have to worry about that extra step, but it is good to know about it in case you ever have to make a bishop from scratch.

The bishop dress is one of the staples of the smocking world. It is quick and easy and simple to sew up, however it is a bit tricky for beginners to work at first because of the necessity of adjusting your tension to avoid the dreaded "Turkey Neck Syndrome" but if you block your neckline before smocking and after the 3rd or 4th row you will be fine. The pattern of a bishop has an interesting history. We know it as raglan sleeve style where the shoulder seams are drawn from an angle up from the bottom of the armhole to the neck. This style is very familiar to many who study fashion history. It shows up in "Bishop Gowns" - the real kind of Bishops, in old fashioned chemises and peasant blouses. It is a very comfortable style to wear, not too much fitting required as with today's standard bodices and fitted in sleeves. The way the gathering at the neckline pulls in the shoulder makes this extremely comfortable and versatile garment to make up for many sizes. Pattern Shown: The Bishop Dress by Ellen McCarn

Many of today's Smocking Designers came up with their own Bishop pattern.  They include Grace Knott, Cameron Farr, Maggie's Classics, Little Sunday Dresses, Briar Patch Designs, Children's CornerSmickety Smocks, Chery Williams, Pat Garretson, and the new one by Ellen McCarn.

All of the above patterns are good ones but the reason why the Chery Williams' Bishop pattern really took off was because of her full color pattern front, multi sized patterns and wonderful directions which appealed to so many women.

(For examples of the different styles of today's contemporary bishop dresses see my website section on Bishop Patterns We Carry.)

Show and Share - Hanger from Australia

Here is a lovely hanger pattern and image that was submitted by Pamela Smith  from Australia.  Do hope that you enjoy it.  Pam sent me the picture of her smocked nightie below and I was entranced with the lace on the hanger.  I was told that she had adapted the hanger from a class that she had taken and was graciously sent the instructions and pattern which I am sharing with you.

Here is the nightgown, beautifully smocked and look at that bias - Satin!!!!  Unlike here it seems that satin bias and satin piping are readily available in Australia and New Zealand.  It adds a nice touch to see a satin with matte finished fabric.

Here is a closeup of the hanger.  It's a pretty calico hanger with English lace to doll it up.  You could make it in batiste with scalloped pintucks and fine embroidery if you like but this style is very pretty.  A good way to use up scraps of your favorite fabrics.

Here is the pattern that you can print out

This pattern has been reduced, you can print it out and take to a copy store and enlarge it to the size that matches your hanger.

Directions for making up the hanger.

"Dear Beth-Katherine

Here are the instructions for the hanger.  

These coat-hangers are great because the padding extends an inch or two past each end, so clothes sit well on them and don't get pulled out of shape.

Use a rectangle of material approximately 55 cm by 16 cm (22 inches by 6 and a half inches), and a piece of wadding (sometimes called batting as used in quilts) the same size.

Cut four scallops along both long sides. I use a saucer.  The end scallops are tapered to form more of a point.  Using a zigzag, machine stitch pre-gathered lace edging around  the entire edge of the outer material. Lace at least 4 cm (one and a half inch) wide looks best.

Pierce a small hole in the center of the material and the wadding for the hook. Put the wadding and then the outer material over the hook and fold in half over the coat-hanger. Match up the scalloped edge (just push the wadding out of the way) and join the two sides with another zigzag machine stitch along the top of the lace.

I then cover the hook with plastic tubing and tie a bow of narrow ribbon where it joins the coat-hanger.

Regards, Pamela Smith

Pattern Review Section:

Jamie - Sizes 6mo - 6 years by Yvonne Denise Designs, published by ABC Kids (Creative Smocking) $9.00

You have your choice of two basic styles suitable for girls or boys (or at least until your young man is still a toddler) with the smocking coming from a yoke or plain yoke with a smocked collar.  Two choice of collars are offered.  The first collar is a simple Peter Pan collar which is piped.  On the boys style the sleeves are simple cap or straight sleeves on the girls a simple puff sleeve is edged with a bias same color as the collar, long or short sleeves are both included.  The smocking comes from a high yoke and spreads out into roomy pants caught at the hem with self-fabric cuffs.

The smocked collar style is the simple basic smocked collar made with either the same fabric or a swiss edging.  Of course you could use a more fancy smocked collar with lace insertion for a dressier look.  The yoke extends to the waist with the pants gathered onto the yoke.

The directions for this pattern are clear, concise and with great illustrations.   While each step is clear and detailed, unfortunately no smocking design is included with the pattern.

Yardage for these are based on 45"

 6mo   1 3/8 yards
12mo   1 1/2 yards
18mo   1 5/8 yards
24mo   1 5/8 yards
2      1 7/8 yards
3      2 yards
4      2 1/8 yards
5      2 3/8 yards
6      2 1/2 yards

 6mo   1 5/8 yards
12mo   1 3/4 yards
18mo   2 yards
24mo   2 yards
2      2 1/4 yards
3      2 3/8 yards
4      2 5/8 yards
5      2 3/4 yards
6      2 7/8 yards

6mo    1 3/4 yards
12mo   2 yards
18mo   2 1/4 yards
24mo   2 1/4 yards
2      2 1/2 yards
3      2 5/8 yards
4      2 7/8 yards
5      3 1/8 yards
6      3 1/4 yards

Link to Garden Fairies Smocking Catalog

Link to Gathering Thread Issue 2