How to make a perfect bullion and then a bullion rose:

(left and right handed instructions)

by Beth-katherine Kaiman, ©2008 all rights reserved

The bullion stitch is a member of the 3-dimensional french knot family of embroidery stitches.

There are a few variations of the knot stitch depending upon how many times you wrap the floss around the needle, how you place the needle to make the stitch and how you finish off the stitch. Other members of the family include the colonial knot, the french knot and the lazy daisy bullion stitch.

Five wrap two shade Bullion Rose with pair of darker bullions in center,

lighter color on outer wraps & 2 bullions for leaves on each side of rose.

A bullion is created by wrapping floss around a needle at least 4-5 times and up to 20 depending upon what type of flower or accent you are creating. Using different fibers of floss will create different variations of bullions but the majority of bullions in roses in heirloom smocking and embellishments upon clothing are worked with the pima cotton flosses such as DMC, Anchor and Presencia.  Other uses for bullions are for leaf structure and log building as well as parts of a body for a motif.

Working a bullion on pleated fabric takes a bit of practice but once you get the hang of making a bullion on flat fabric shifting over to the consideration of tension of floss upon pleated fabric (not pulling to tightly so as to bunch the pleats up against one another) shouldn’t be too hard for anyone who has raised kids or dedicated themselves to learning HOW TO DO THINGS.

Here are a couple of books that contain excellent directions for making bullions.  As you can see from the first book bullions can be made into any shape and form the imagination can bring forth.  Interestingly, bullion motifs can be more easily constructed than picture smocking as a way to add dimension to a smocked garments or add to a picture smocked scene, flat and raised stitches forming the complete image.

Brazilian Embroidery has a life of it’s own with it’s variations of different flower types in different types of bullion stitches enhanced with feathery foliage of the feather stitch.  These are also suitable for working on your pleated fabrics.  Would be quite the thing surrounding the waistline of a silk dress.

You can find extraordinary examples of bullion embroidery on vintage handkerchiefs and tablecloths worked in cotton and rayon floss. Kits for tablecloths and tea towels were very prevalent from the 50’s to the 70’s and the finished products found their way into the linens collection of many antique stores and estate sales. In today’s world what is called Brazilian Embroidery is very popular with all the colors of rayon floss shining back at you. Lush is the right word for rayon floss but it’s a pain to work with, especially when the atmosphere creates dry air conditions and your floss misbehaves. The addition of silk floss to rayon tames the static electricity; the brand mostly found is Rajmahal from Australia but if you haven’t worked with Rajmahal Floss yet you are in for a treat.

These are some prime examples of rayon bullion roses from the 1930’s

As you can see two colors are used to for the bullion rose,

darkish in the center and lighter on the petals.

More advanced bullion roses have two or three more layers in lighter shades to form a more full rose.

The Australians love to go a level further with larger roses and add in an even lighter shade on the outermost layer. Also notice that the two center bullions seem to curl around one another. This is done with the second bullion at the end of the stitch by sinking the needle slightly past around the curve of the first bullion.  Pull your floss tightly to sink in the stitch.

NEEDLE TO USE

Choosing the right needle is your first step. Look over your collection of needles and you will notice that the majority of them have eyes that are larger than the shaft of the needle. There are many reasons for this but when you are wrapping floss around a needle the eye makes a larger loop at bottom of the coil which can end up making your bullion look lumpy and definitely not even. There is a way to adjust this wrap but the better choice is to use the correct style of needle, the milliner.

A milliners or straw needle is different as the eye of the needle is the same width as the shaft of the needle. This makes for a more uniform coil when pulling through the thread before anchoring to the fabric. If you use any other type of needle your first wrap will be the largest and the coil unbalanced.

To make a perfect bullion:

Use the right sized milliner needle for the floss you are working with.

For cotton floss this is the Milliner #10 when working with 3 strands of floss. Go up to the Milliner #7 if you want more strands of floss.

Place your needle in your fabric and from underneath place your forefinger of your right hand and make the needle stand almost upright. This makes it easier to wrap smoothly and evenly on the shaft of the needle with the opposite hand. When done wrapping gently smooth the wraps down the shaft making sure you don’t change the tension of the floss and allow the wraps to loosen. (If this does happen you can pet the wraps back into a tightened shape but don’t go too far or your needle won’t be able to pull through.)

Immediately place the wraps between your thumb and forefinger of the wrapping hand and hold the ‘worm’ while you pull your needle through the wraps with the free hand. Your needle should pull freely, if it doesn’t gently twist the needle in the opposite direction of your wraps until the needle pulls free. DO NOT LET GO OF THE COIL OF WRAPS until you are almost out of thread to pull through. When you feel the thread stopping then you can let go of the wraps.

Look at them to make sure that they are perfectly smooth and even. If not then park your needle in the gap of thread between the wraps and the fabric, gently tugging on the thread to pull it through, petting the wraps as you gently pull the tail of the thread through the coil of floss. This step should even out your wraps. The key word here is gently pull the thread, and not pull too tight and you will have too small of a bullion.

When satisfied with your bullion and you’ve run out of floss to pull, sink your needle down next at the end of the wraps to the backside of the fabric and start again where ever you want for the next bullion.

Using this method you can also make a form of bullions with silk ribbon in the bullion tip lazy daisy. Bullion wrap roses get too messy but you’re welcome to experiment. Faux silk ribbon bullion stitches are more frequently found, easier to execute and prettier to look at.

The placement of your bullions into the shape of a rose is another important step in making a beautiful rose. Most roses start out with one or two bullions side by side as the center of the rose. Then span out around the core bullions in the shape of a triangle and then expanding out in a spiral shape as rose petals do. (You can also make a french knot or cluster of knots as the center of your rose(s) which ever style of rose you choose to embroider.)

As always, consistency is important as well.

Consistency in the size of your bullions, how many wraps per bullion and their proper placement around each other.

This is what makes a beautiful rose.

Have fun wrapping!

Read the rest of this entry »

SMOCKING NEWSLETTER Special Edition

Beginner’s Corner: Eleven Rules Of Smocking To Remember  Beth-katherine Kaiman copyright 2001-2009

Janaury 1, 2001

e-Mail: smockingstore@att.net

Website: Garden Fairies Smocking & Needlearts Catalog

Smocking Newsletter - Beth-Katherine Kaiman, copyright 1997-2008, all rights reserved. Please respect my creativity and hard work and ask permission before you copy something from these newsletters for your non profit group, I always ask that you quote me correctly and give me credit with a way for people to get back to me. Thank you.  If you wish to quote me in a venture for profit please contact me separately concerning royalties.

The Rules

These are a few things you must keep in your mind while you are smocking in order to make your stitches perfect.

1) The main object of smocking is to connect the pleats together with your embroidery stitches, whether it be on the front or back (known as back-smocking). The reason for this is when you remove the pleating threads if all of the pleats aren’t caught somehow with the embroidery then they will fly free and flatten out.   Sometimes we may like doing this but for the most part each and every pleat is caught with each row otherwise there are gaps caused in your smocking.

2) When you look at a piece of pre-pleated fabric there are a few things you need to know. The first is that once your fabric comes off of the pleater needles the threads that hold the pleats are now referred to as pleating rows. The spaces between the pleats are known as the ‘valley of the pleat’.   You will see in instructions “come up in the valley”, they are talking about starting your stitch from the bottom on the pleat in the valley rather than on the top of the pleat which would look awful.

3) When working different smocking stitches you will see references to ‘half space’ and ‘quarter space’. The spaces between the rows are sometimes divided into equal part with our stitches. We refer to the middle of two rows as the half space and the section between the half space and row as the quarter space. Some stitches are totally worked straight across the piece while others travel down or up; for example, the wave stitch can go down to the next row or as a baby wave to the half space and back up to the starting point. Advanced trellis stitches are sometimes broken into 5 or 7 step waves, which is really just an outline stitch worked downwards.

4) Keep your smocking even and straight by placing the needle at the same angle consistently. (This is actually a “most always” rule - the outline stitch is best worked with your needle angled; especially when you working undulating patterns, or when you are working the second half of the wheat stitch you get a better look when you angle in your needle).

5) Always, or rather most always keep your needle parallel to the pleating threads. Keeping this rule in mind at all times will guarantee that your smocking will be even. (There is some controversy with this method but for the most part keeping your needle parallel to the pleats at all times makes for straight and even stitches.)

6) Even tension keeps your stitches smooth. You don’t want to pull your stitches so tight that the fabric shows. Nor do you want to have your stitches so loose that they look uneven. I always tug my floss down or up parallel to the pleats to lock a stitch.

7) There is a thing called muscle memory. Once you train your hand in the proper way of holding the needle and placement of needle it will remember. These first few times of working are very important as you are creating good hand placement habits. Remember that it may be awkward at first but once you practice a stitch a couple of times and your hands remember how you made it it will become easier. ( I know this sounds a bit strange but if you think about the first time you ‘got it’ while learning to ride a bicycle or a clutch on a car you will ‘know’ what I mean).

8) Placement of needle going in straight on the top 1/3 of the pleat or as I like it just a hair (or thread) above the pleating thread. All of the experts seem to agree that the top 1/3 of the pleat is where you stitch but I have found that it makes your smocking seem very shallow so I like to take a bigger bite which covers more of your pleat (it’s also good practice for picture smocking).

9) Stopping and starting in the middle of a row isn’t a disaster. If you see that you are about to run out of floss try to always complete your pattern stitch with a cable stitch and then shoot your needle to the back through the two pleats and tie off with a knot. Then re-thread your needle and try to come back up near where you left off. Knots are ok, in fact we like them - just make sure they are nice and tight.

10) Unlike some embroidery and knitting techniques, traveling of your floss on the back is a no-no. This is not as much of a neatness issue, but when you first start out you may not realize that you may smock too tight and have stretch out your piece and if you have these ’strands’ it won’t work. Smocking was invented before elastic, so your smocking is stretchy. If a color is needed 8 or 9 pleats down a row we go to the back and catch the pleats in the outline stitch until the color is used on top. This makes for a tidier back and lessens the odds of catching and breaking that ‘traveller’ at a later date as well as making sure that all pleats are captured with a stitch. Otherwise when you take out your pleating threads you may have a surprise of loose pleats. (Unless of course this is the look you are going for.)

11) Oh and I almost forgot the most important rule, relax. Smocking kicks in the alpha and theta brain waves, it is very relaxing. Once you get the stitches and the patterns you can engage ‘automatic pilot’ and sit back and relax enjoying the rhythm of the needle in and out of the pleats. It’s good for your health, but be careful not to overdo it with the hands. Carpal tunnel lurks in any repetitive motion. Just watch out for leaning elbows or strained muscles. If you feel yourself aching in any spot, put your smocking down, walk around and if you are working with magnifier lenses take them off and stare out at a tree way far away across the street to regain your distance viewing. Oh and make sure that you are working with good lighting behind you.  These last few additions are especially important when you are smocking on a deadline.  Give yourself enough time to finish your project.

Keeping these rules in mind will make your smocking beautiful.

conceived and written by Beth-katherine Kaiman, Main Fairy

What is Smocking? What is a Smocking Plate? What is the difference between Picture Smocking and Geometric Smocking? What is Back Smocking? Where can I find clothing patterns designed specifically for smocking? Here - Patterns We Carry How do I insert a piece of pleated fabric into a garment What is the difference between a bishop and a basic yoke dress? What do I need to smock a bishop dress? What is the best thread and needle to baste with? What is the best needle to use and why? How to get started in Smocking What to make once you’re familiar with the basics of Smocking? How to I make my smocking really beautiful? See my 11 Rules of Smocking How do I adjust my smocking design to fit a different set of rows? Do I have to change ALL my needles if one breaks or bends? What is an angel wing sleeve? What other types of needle arts are compatible with smocking? When do I take out my pleating threads? What is blocking? How do I block? What causes bubbles in pleating?

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English Smocking is embroidery upon pleated fabric that has either been formed with needle and thread following a grid or with a machine known as a pleater.

It is an art form whose origin has been obscured in history but has been handed down from generation to generation much like the sagas, songs and myths, however it’s roots are traceable to a point through looking at the art of the past specifically at the stitchery on the clothing. If you look at paintings from the Italian and German Renaissance you will see lots of examples of beginning stylized smocking on mens’ shirts and ladies’ chemises.

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How do I make the pleats for smocking? Can I make them on my sewing machine?

Smocking requires evenly spaced rows with pleats 1/4″ apart and rows 3/8″ apart (this is the standard Pleater Compatible grid we use these days, there are others). No matter how hard you try you cannot make evenly spaced rows on a sewing machine. Nor can you form them in a folded piece of fabric like you can with tucks (but you can smock tucks together to make pseudo smocking). Pleats for smocking need to be upright as shown in the photograph above in order to make your smocking beautiful.

There are two ways to make pleats, either with a pleater which is a machine that forms pleats by sending fabric through notched roller bars or through iron-on dots which are evenly spaced in the aforementioned grid.

We sell three types of pleaters in sizes 16 rows, 24 rows (including the Super Pleater which has half spaces in between each row), and 32 rows, with the 16 row being the one most used for dolls and children. One can send fabric through the pleater twice or as many times as you can but it is a tricky lining up the pleats. (For instructions on how to do this there is a section in A to Z Smocking).

To view all the pleaters we sell please go to our Pleaters & Accessories page for more information.

Amanda Jane 16-row

Excellent size for when you are working just with doll and infant clothing or if you want a narrower spacing of your pleats for picture smocking or a different variation for shibori.

Iron-On Smocking Dots - $3.50 per package of two 24″ x 36″ sheets. Two styles and two colors: (Regular spacing and Pleater Compatible) Pleater Compatible spacing (to match the contemporary smocking patterns we sell).

Your choice of two colors Yellow for dark fabrics or Blue for light fabrics.

To order go to Pleaters and Things

Pleater Compatible Spacing Blue PC Smocking Dots

Traditional Spacing Blue Smocking Dots

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What is a smocking plate?

	Ellen McCarn Smocking Designs
All Smocking Plate Designers
	EM#110 Bubbling Hearts & Baby Fish

What is Back Smocking?

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What is the difference between Picture Smocking and Geometric Smocking?

Geometric smocking is where you form patterns with the different stitches used in smocking. Picture Smocking is where you form pictures with the stacked cable stitch. Stacking cables is similar to cross stitch patterns as you place cable stitches on top of each other to form pictures. The image above is a good example of picture smocking with
color changes and interesting shapes. The image of the stacking graph paper below shows how the stitches are put on top of each other to form shapes. Geometric paper is also available for Geometric Smocking Designs.

Geometric smocking can be thick or sparse depending on your taste. Grace Knott designs are the oldest ones in print, coming from the 1950’s whereas the ones by contemporary designers such as Ellen McCarn, Creative Keepsakes, Little Stitches, Lou Anne Lamar, & Beverly Andrews (to name a few) are less dense in their designs but use a lot of embellishments such as ribbon weaving, bullions and silk ribbon embroidery.

Grace Knott Smocking Designs	Lou Anne Lamar	Ellen McCarn Stacking Graph Paper
GK#1 The Oriental	LAL#145 Montrose	Ellen McCarn Stacking Graph Paper

For more smocking designs go to our Smocking Plate Designers Page

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How do I insert a piece of pleated fabric into a garment?

This is done by measuring the piece you wish to cut out of a garment and insert a pleated and smocked piece of fabric. It is best to use piping to stabilize your pleats (we carry peitite piping in a rainbow of colors). Depending on who you are going to be sewing for, look for a smooth or flat area (no darts or princess curves) on the pattern to insert into, such as the upper chest area (not bust line), or vertical lengthwise along side a button placket, or anywhere you think it would look nice. Make sure when you do cut out a section to insert into that you replace the same amount as was there originally and to include your seam allowances, i.e. an insert 5″ tall will actually be 6″ - including two 1/2″ seams on the top and bottom of insert. The segment cut out of the pattern piece will be 4″ (reflecting a 5″ insert with two 1/2″ seams on the top and bottom, bent back out of the way). See what I am talking about? Of course the two pattern pieces won’t be attached so you won’t really see that measurement but when you are calculating the insert you have to do a little creative thinking. Don’t forget this important fact otherwise your garment will have added
length to it.

Here is an email from one of our customers who asked a similar question:

<< I’m in the planning stage and that is why I had these questions about the pre-pleated insert. Yes, that was what I thought about untying the gathering threads from the insert and laying it out on the skirt. So, I could actually do it either way? This way or gathering the skirt later on in the construction of dress as you told me earlier. Which way is the best for the look of the dress? Which way would you do it? I sent along a picture of a recent dress I smocked. Right now I’ve done two for my girlfriend’s grandchild. I”ll be a pro by the time my grandchildren come! I’m 53 and none of my three kids are married yet. Thanks–Christy >>

IF your pleating threads are long enough to allow your to spread the insert out flat without fear of having them disappear in the process then that is the way I would attach it to a skirt front and drop your bottom row as a trellis design down past the seam line. This is easily done by pinching the pleats taut and eyeballing where the next row would be. This makes for a design joining feature. This way you can smock treat the insert like it was part of the skirt instead of piping both sides flat. Of course it all depends upon what looks good with the fabric you have chosen to be the floral print and how much of a contrast the insert to the print is.

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Recommended reading:
A to Z Smocking -OR- Adapting a Commercial Pattern for the Smocked Insert

Both of these books are found in our Smocking Books Section of our website

A to Z Smocking Stitches	Adapting Commercial Patterns for the Smocked Insert by Diana Bruce of Creative Keepsakes

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What is the difference between a bishop and a basic yoke dress?

Bishop

A bishop dress is a raglan sleeved (or angel wing sleeves) dress, blouse, or romper that is smocked all the way around the neckline. It evolved from the round smock worn by farm workers in England and Victorian Times Liberty Dress adapted for children and ladies. In today’s fashion world it is now mostly worn by little girls and I have noticed in department stores imported raglan sleeved blouses with a little smocking. I have also seen this style in major pattern companies, which makes a lot of sense as it is an easy style to fit to a wide range of body shapes.

Here is an example of a typical Victorian smocked neckline. Today we point to this example as something to avoid: “the dreaded turtle neck”.

The raglan sleeve came about through the centuries of women and men wearing clothing and discovering which style was most comfortable. The raglan sleeve style was mostly worn as nightshifts as it was a comfortable style to sleep in. In the smocking world a bishop dress is one of the staple styles of dresses/blouses available as it is a perfect canvas for showing off your beautiful embroidery. have always felt that hand embroidery should be worn not hung on walls.)

Folkwear #103 Roumanian Blouse

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Here are two of the bishop patterns for young girls we offer

To see more click on the link Bishop patterns

Ellen McCarn Bishop
	Ellen McCarn’s The Ultimate Bishop - Two sizes 3mos - 4 yrs or 5-12yrs The instruction booklet included has over 140 illustrations and complete instructions for Pleating, 7 Sleeve Variations, Scalloped Hem, Heirloom Machine Sewing techniques and an adjustable geometric smocking design graph “Marie”. Also includes instructions for making an insert collar out of contrast fabric. Ellen’s instructions are the best, every step is detailed and illustrated in a clear and concise manner that is to be expected by a master smocking designer.
Pat Garretson	Pat Garretson’s New Bishop Dress & BonnetTwo sizes: Small 6mo - 3 and Medium 4-6 Each pattern has individually graded sized. There are nine views to choose from and each view has 4-5 different variations, and two bonnets are included for individual sizing: Small, Medium and Large to protect those tender heads from the burning sunlight and harmful U.V. Rays. Also included are 4 smocking designs and 2 shadow work embroidery designs. Along with complete instructions on how to do just about everything you would ever want to know.

For adults we carry #103 The Roumanian Peasant Blouse by Folkwear, which is a contemporary version of the Liberty Dress, peasant style and also Sandy Hunter’s Less Full Peasant Blouse (as seen in the movie Mona Lisa Smile - a great
gift for a teenager!!!!). To see all the bishop patterns we carry click on the link Patterns We Carry, then Bishops.

Folkwear Roumanian Blouse	Meco Modes Blouse Kylie	Grace Knott Ladies’ Peasant Blouse & Dress	Contessa Blouse & Skirt	Sandy Hunter’s Less Full Peasant Blouse
		Misses: 10-16

… and for a new twist on the peasant look by Meco Modes

MM#11 Tanya - Misses 8-18 - Peasant Style Blouse and Short Top View A - Smocking forms a narrow band around the entire neckline, including an extension that sites across the top of the arm, while rows of smocking, to replicate shirring, control the fullness under the bust. Tiny frills trim the neckline and the upper and lower edges of the armband. A deeper peaked frill is the feature of the hemline. View B - This peasant style, short-sleeved top features the same neckline smocking as view A. The lower edge of the top is cropped short to site beneath the bust. The edges of this top are also finished with tiny frills. A drawstring (narrow cord or ribbon) is use to gather in the lower edge of the sleeves. Suggested fabrics: Soft materials that drape well, lightweight cotton, silk , polyester, rayon (or blends), voile, batiste, cheesecloth, lawn, chiffon, crepe de chine, georgette, challis. Takes 2 - 1/4 yards for most sizes.

Basic Square Yoke

Ellen McCarn Basic Square Yoke

Click on the Patterns We Carry and the Basic Square Yokes to see all the Basic Square Yoke patterns.

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What do I need to smock a bishop dress?

Most ladies who smock will tell you that smocking a bishop dress, blouse or a nightgown in the round is tricky because of three things. First you have to partially construct the garment before pleating. Second you have to adjust the tension of your stitches in order to avoid a tube instead of a flat round shape and third it requires a blocking guide in order to get the neckline properly roundly shaped. Most bishop patterns these days contain a neckline guide but if you find yours doesn’t neckline guides are found in many AS&E magazines, Jane MacPherson’s Neckline guide and Ellen McCarn’s Block and Shape guide sized 18″ dolls to Adult necklines which is printed on heavy duty pellon so you can pin your garment to it and steam block without worrying about the paper deteriorating.

Smock and Block Guide by Ellen McCarn This handy tool which you can mount into a hoop or a picture frame has all the necklines of 18″ AG dolls up through preemie/newborns to Adult necklines and is printed on heavy pellon. It also a blocking guide for inserts AND has a scallop tracing guide for hems and collars. The size of the scallops measure from 1″ to 4″.

This can be found on our Pleaters & Smocking Notions page

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What is the best thread and needle to use for basting?

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What is the best needle for Smocking?

When choosing your floss you are going to be smocking with make certain the needle you choose to work with allows enough room in the eye to accomodate the width of your floss. Now that may sound strange but seriously, you can’t put perle cotton in the eye of a crewel #10. You will have to move up to either a Crewel #6 or a Darner #5, even a Darner #3. There are many choices in needles but the type that I (and all the teachers) recommend is Darners #7 $1.50 per package of 15.  This is a good sized needle long with a wide eye that you can actually see for threading. It also makes a big hole in your pleat for several strands of floss to fit through. This is especially helpful when you are doing picture smocking and using 4 strands of floss. As a rule of thumb the size of the needle you are using and the type of floss depends on the type of fabric you are smocking on. If using a fine batiste I would go with a crewel #10 as the needle is a thin one less likely to damage the fabric. If smocking on broadcloth and other heavier weights then I would go with the Darner #7.

See our Needles page to order

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How to get started in Smocking

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What to make once you’re 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 sewing involved.
• 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.)
• 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.) Also there are several new cute smocked purse patterns available which make great 4H projects or beginner’s projects. See our Purse Patterns page for details.
• 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 of trucks and dinosaurs, they just don’t like the frou frou fullness.)
• 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 right 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.)
  

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Do I have to change all of my needles when one goes bad, bends or breaks if I am only pleating chiffon and organza and charmeuse.

Not necessarily. To be certain take the needles out of your pleater and compare them to one another to see which ones are out of shape. They all should line up spoon shape in a row. If one is bent in either the tip or the bowl curve of the needle you will immediately see it and you should toss it out as it will mess up your pleating.

Chiffon and organza are both fun fabrics to pleat as they go fast. Charmeuse is more dense (depending upon the weight or mm (12mm is thinner than 18mm the standard). If you are using crepe back satin charmeuse (yum) then it is to be considered a denser fabric and handled with a bit more attention by clearing it off your needles every 4th turn of the pleater. To allow any dense fabric to build up on your needles is asking for trouble as it puts stress on your pleater and needles will break or bend. Fiber artists who use their pleaters for silk painting shibori style run the risk of breaking more needles due to all the manipulating they can do with shifting the fabric creating bubbles than say a person using a pleater only for smocking.

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What is an angel wing sleeve?

Angel wings is the terms for those ruffled sleeve caps you see on a sleeveless bishop or basic square yoke dress. It is made by adding a small piece of gathered fabric that is curved on the edge to form a ruffle at the sleeve cap. It’s called an angel wing because it looks like a wing. Here is an example of an angel sleeve from one of my daughter’s bishop dresses. As per the pattern directions I finished off the sleeve with Entredeux attached to a small scalloped Swiss edging.

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What other types of needle arts are compatible with smocking?

The most compatible types of needlearts to add to your smocking are crewel embroidery stitches (except the satin stitch), Brazilian Embroidery and Silk Ribbon Embroidery. Madeira applique, shadowwork embroidery, and heirloom sewing touches are favorites with the designers of patterns we carry. These techniques are like icing on the cake.

Madeira applique is often seen on hemlines, adding an alternate color to an otherwise white dress. Shadow work can also be used on hemlines or on bodices and the all time favorite heirloom sewing category contains tucks, entredeux and lace edgings and insertions. Some of designers who use these techniques are Wendy Schoen, Old Fashioned Baby, Chery Williams, Kay Guiles, Ginger Snaps Designs and Pat Garretson

When do I take out my pleating threads?

What is blocking?

Blocking is the same thing you would do to a sweater after knitting as everyone’s tension in forming the stitches is different. With smocking you block before and after working the smocking.

How do I block?

Blocking is the process of measuring & pinning your pleated fabric onto a padded surface while matching the measurement of where it is to fit to and then steaming the pleats into place. (If you are making a basic square yoke dress this measurement will be the yoke the pleated piece is to fit onto.)

Blocking is also done when you are finished smocking. I’ve found that blocking your piece into shape before smocking helps keep the shape after smocking as I know how to gauge my tension of the stitches while I embroidered.

Pin your pleated piece onto an ironing board matching either the pattern piece or a tape measure. Mark this measurement in your notebook or notes onto your pattern as this the measurement you will be blocking onto your finished smocked piece. Usually our smocking pulls in the pleats but it can easily be slightly stretched and steamed into place without the smocking looking distorted.

The process includes:

• Pinning down one side and tying off the threads in pairs using square knots (easier to untie).
  
• Tighten the pleated piece to the shape you want and then tie off the last side and pin so the piece doesn’t shift.
  
• Comb the pleats into a uniform shape (with your fingernails) of the piece you are pleating so that they are even.
  
• Steam it into place with a steam iron, a good 2 minutes of steam.
  
• Allow to dry in place.
  

Steaming the pleats before smocking will help the insert retain it’s size even while smocking. The steam sets the threads in the fabric to retain their shape.

Some people like to starch their pleats but I find that it drags against my needle while smocking.

What causes bubbles in pleating?