Smocking
Also: English smocking
Smocking is an embroidery technique that gathers fabric into pleats and holds them with decorative stitches, giving stretch and shape without elastic.
Smocking is worked in two steps. Rows of temporary gathering threads pull cloth into even pleats, and embroidery stitches such as stem, cable, honeycomb and trellis are then worked across the pleats to hold them. The folds between the stitches can still open and close, so the panel stretches.
How much fabric does it need?
About three times the finished width is the usual starting point; thin cloth may need more and thick cloth a little less. See how smocking works for stitches, steps and a width table.
Where does it come from?
Smocking takes its name from the smock-frock, the gathered linen outer garment of English farm workers. It is not the same as shirring, which gathers with rows of machine stitching.
Sources
- Smocks, Smocking, Smocked. Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading
- Smocked frock. FIDM Museum
See also
Read more
Last updated · Markdown