SMOCKING

Smocking is an embroidery technique which is done on pleats or gathers.

It is decorative as well as functional for its elasticity. smocking was commonly used
in cuffs, bodices, and necklines in garments where buttons were undesirable

Commented [1]: Zoom hand cuff's

Until 19th century, smocking was handed down from generation to generation.
Examples of smocking or embroidery on pleated fabric can be found all around the
world in museums, from different cultures to examples of smocking in paintings and
wooden carvings as early as the 12th century. There is also a mention of an
embroidered smock in the household accounting of Elizabeth I. The oldest account of
smocking dates back to 1175 BC!
From the late 17th century to the Industrial Revolution of the late 19th century Smocked
Frocks were a very popular piece of clothing for people in rural Britain to wear. The
garments were made out of Linen and waterproofed by wiping them down with
linseed oil. Big collars added protection from the weather. These smocks were often
embroidered with symbols of what trade the wearer did (bakers, farmers, blacksmiths,
etc.) and were worn to protect the underclothing.

the Industrial Revolution reduced handmade smock frock as a utility garment. They
were still worn on Fair Day or to church but the style soon evolved to be a 'fashionable'
garment for the female gentry. The new Aesthetic Dress movement took hold and the
two styles of the smock evolved into fashionable garments such as bishop blouses &
dresses while the smock frock became basic square yoke dresses for young girls in the
late 19th Century.
aesthetic dress

bishop blouse sleeve

yoke dresses

It was very popular from the 30's through the 60's. This style consisted of iron-on
transfers of pairs of dots formed in a pattern that while stitching made up a smocking
design and pleats at the same time. This made smocking more accessible to the general
public

.
Smocking can be used in apparels and furnishings such as pillow cover, pouffe, and curtains
wherever gathers are required.

Commented [2]: zoom blue cushion

stitches of smocking: Smocking may be done in many sophisticated patterns. Standard hand
smocking stitches are:
A. Cable stitch: a tight stitch of double rows that joins alternating columns of gathers.
B. Stem stitch: a tight stitch with minimum flexibility that joins two columns of gathers at a
time in single overlapping rows with a downward slope.
C. Outline stitch: similar to the stem stitch but with an upward
slope.
D. Cable flowerette: a set of gathers worked in three rows of
stitches across four columns of gathers. Often organized in
diagonally arranged sets of flowerettes for loose smocking.
E. Wave stitch: a medium density pattern that alternately
employs tight horizontal stitches and loose diagonal stitches.
F. Honeycomb stitch: a medium density variant on the cable
stitch that double stitches each set of gathers and provides
more spacing between them, with an intervening diagonal stitch
concealed on the reverse side of the fabric.
G. Surface honeycomb stitch: a tight variant on the honeycomb
stitch and the wave stitch with the diagonal stitch visible, but
spanning only one gather instead of a gather and a space.
H. Trellis stitch: a medium density pattern that uses stem
stitches and outline stitches to form diamond-shaped patterns.
I. Vandyke stitch: a tight variant on the surface honeycomb stitch that wraps diagonal
stitches in the opposite direction.
J. Bullion stitch: a complex knotted stitch that joins several gathers in a single stitch.
Organized similarly to cable flowerets.

Procedure
1. Thin cotton or silk or satin fabric can be