Smocking Techniques at Miu Miu

Miu Miu, SS12, Paris. In the past few seasons there have been some great examples of designers taking fairly old-fashioned and dated techniques and using them in the context of more contemporary collections. In the recent Spring-Summer 2012 collection for Miu Miu Miuccia Prada has reworked the smocking technique on cotton and satin dresses and capes and even extended the technique into the embellishment on hand bags. The basic aesthetic of smocking may look familiar for its application on babies garments or on the traditional workers smocks that were the original application of the technique. Smocking would have been most important at a time before elastic, to allow fabric to be gathered and tted around necklines and cuffs. The process for smocking is based on a grid formation that is usually marked rst on the fabric with small dots. These are then joined together with a loose running stitch and pulled to create tubes of regular gathers in the fabric. From there the true design takes place as the shape of the smocking design is sewn using small back stitches to create horizontal lines, or diamond shapes. Once the original running stitches are removed fabric in the gaps between the stitching will open out, whilst the stitched fabric will retain the shape of the design.

The accessories below show the use of smocking in velvets and satins, and in general smocking will work best in sturdy fabrics that will pleat easily into regular gathers. It is best to try small swatches of fabric rst o see if your chosen fabric is suitable for smocking as some fabrics may be too slippery to easily hold the technique.

The image below shows a diagram from ChestofBooks.com that shows the different stitches for smocking more clearly:

Below is a list of the basic stitches used to create smocking designs to match the letters on the photograph below. You can nd this list and more information on the Wikipedia page for smocking:

A. Cable stitch: a tight stitch of double rows that joins alternating columns of gathers. B. Stem stitch: a tight stitch with minimum exibility 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 owerette: a set of gathers worked in three rows of stitches across four columns of gathers. Often organized in diagonally arranged sets of owerettes 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 outine stitches to form diamondshaped 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 owerettes. Smockers knot: (not depicted) a simple knotted stitch used to nish work with a thread or for decorative purposes. Images from Vogue.co.uk

Photo: Jack Deutsch

Smocking is an age-old technique typically used in heirloom and historical garments. However, this traditional surface embellishment is making a comeback in unexpected ways in modern design. It was a featured technique on Lifetime Televisions Project Runway, and has resurfaced on ready-to-wear, and on designer runways. The following pattern variation on North American smocking, known as the lozenge, is sewn using a grid that alternates taut and slack stitches. Once you get the knack of this variation, you can try creating other designs on a grid and stitching your own version. By changing the scale, placement, or number of repeats, you can fabricate an interesting smocked look. North American smocking takes up fabric lengthwise and widthwise. Plan your design, and expand your pattern to accommodate the extra fabric needed.

Choose your fabric Smocking works best on light- to medium-weight fabrics. The technique creates multiple folds and pleats, so dont select a material that has a lot of bulk. Typically, smocking takes up about two to three times the fabrics width and length. If your pleats are very deep, more fabric is needed. Always test your design on scrap fabric rst to estimate how much yardage you need. Adjust your pattern Before stitching the design, measure a test fabrics length and width. Smock the fabric, and measure it again. Divide the fabrics original length and width by the new measurements. Multiply the quotient by your target measurement to determine how much fabric is needed. For example, my 10-inch square scrap became a 5-inch square after smocking a lattice pattern (see Threads 151 to get lattice pattern). I wanted to cover the blouse fronts nished neckline, which was 13 inches wide by 4 inches long. I needed to expand the patterns width to 26 inches and its length to 8 inches. Follow the grid to stitch the design Now that your pattern is expanded to the necessary measurements, mark out your designs grid, and stitch the smocking. The alternating taut and slack stitches help create the North American smockings distinctive look. Traditionally, these dots are sewn on a very small scale, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch apart. Here the scale is enlarged to 1

inch for a modern look. Work from left to right to create rows of the lozenge pattern. Arrows represent taut stitches, and solid red lines represent slack stitches.

1. Draw a grid on your fabrics wrong side using a temporary fabric-marking tool. The dots represent each stitch; take care to make sure they are spaced evenly. 2. Begin your stitch design. Follow one of the grids below to sew the smocking. Begin at dot 1. Then pick up dot 2 with your needle, and pull the thread taut to 1. 3. Pick up dot 3 with your needle, but do not pull the thread taut. Tie a knot to secure the slack thread.

4. Pick up dot 4, and pull it taut to dot 3. Continue alternating between taut and slack stitches. At the end of the row or column, tie off the thread. Add more rows or columns as desired. excerpted from Threads #151, p.68

H OW TO DO C ANADIAN S MOCKING Getting Started AKA Lattice Smocking AKA North American Smocking Clothing & Accessories Bags, Purses, Cases & Cozies Canadian smocking is a very quick and easy way to elegantly gather fabric. Use it in home dec projects, accessories, bags, or clothing. Apartment & Home Dec You can nd Canadian smocking in the SavvySeams Tudor Rose Purse pattern. You can nd some examples of beautiful costumes that use Canadian smocking at the Padawan's Guide to Star Wars Prequel Costuming . Check out Padme's nightdress and robe in particular. Techniques Links & Resources About

Support (1) Decide on the size of the area you want to smock. Multiply length and width by 3, and add 2" for a generous seam allowance. Use a quilting ruler or L ruler or just any nice ruler to mark a grid for the smocking. Use a washable fabric marker to make the dots, which should be 1/2" to 1" apart. (2) Use a strong thread. Knot it at the end. Start by making a small stitch under the dot one in the from top and one in from the side. Pull the thread taut. Now make another small stitch under the dot in the top left corner. (3) Pull the thread taut again, bringing the two dots together and 1z5 2010-01-14 01:15 How to do Canadian Smocking, Lattice Smocking, North American Smo... http://www.savvyseams.com/techniques/canadian.php forming the rst pleat. Make a small stitch through both dots, leaving a small loop. Thread the needle make through the loop to make a knot, and pull the thread taut. (4) Now make a small stitch under the dot directly below the starting dot. (5) Leaving a little slack in the thread, make a knot over this dot. (6) Now make a small stitch under the dot to the upper-right corner of the one you are currently working on. (7) Pull the thread taut, bringing the two dots together to form the second pleat. Make a small knot across the two dots as you did before in step 3. 2z5 2010-01-14 01:15 How to do Canadian Smocking, Lattice Smocking, North American Smo... http://www.savvyseams.com/techniques/canadian.php (8) Repeat steps 4 and 5. Then take a small stitch at the dot to the upper-left corner, as in step 2. (9) Again, pull the thread taut to form the pleat and make a knot to secure the pleat.

(10) Keep working the smocking all the way down the vertical row. The slack threads will form a zig-zag as the pleats below them are formed. When you are nished with the row, double-knot your thread and clip it. (11) The front will look like this after the rst verticle row is stitched. (12) Start the second vertical row. Knot the end of your thread and make a small stitch under the next dot, one down from the top (fourth from the left side). Pull the thread taut, and make a small stitch under 3z5 2010-01-14 01:15 How to do Canadian Smocking, Lattice Smocking, North American Smo... http://www.savvyseams.com/techniques/canadian.php the dot to the upper-left corner. This row of dots is "shared" between the stitches you just made and the stitches you will make now. (13) Pull the thread taut and knot the pleat in place. Repeat steps 4-10 to complete this vertical row. If you run out of thread in the middle of a row, don't worry. Just knot the thread where you are, thread the needle anew, and start where you left off as if you were starting again at the top of a row. You will have a break in the zig-zag pattern at the back but it will be completely invisible on the front. After adding the second verticle row the herringbone pattern begins to emerge. Continue adding vertical rows until you have nished the piece. You can see all the now loosely 4z5 2010-01-14 01:15 How to do Canadian Smocking, Lattice Smocking, North American Smo... http://www.savvyseams.com/techniques/canadian.php zig-zagging threads. Gently straighten the pleats on the front side so they make a tidy pattern. If any threads are visible on the front side, rearrange the pleats to hide them. Hold an hot iron about 1/2" above

the fabric (don't directly press it unless you really want to atten it). Use generous amounts of steam to help set the pattern. Copyright 2004-2005. Some rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted, all content on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons License . See About SavvySeams for more information or contact info@savvyseams.com. All of the patterns and information at SavvySeams.com are "use at your own risk". No guarantees are made and SavvySeams assumes no responsibility or liability for use of our patterns. If you are unsure of a pattern or technique test it rst on muslin or scrap fabric. Remember: never sew over pins! RSS 2.0 Feed SITEMAP Validate HTML 5z5 2010-01-14 01:15