milkmaid smock light blue linen smock blouse with 3/4 front button placket closure, hand embroidered english smocking on the chest, back and sleeves with custom embroidery on the collar and each side of the smocking panels. hand embroidered buttonholes with antique shell buttons made in the kent countryside

Cultivating & Inspiring Timeless Sewing

Posts about Fabric Manipulation written by Ruth Singer

Introduction Embroidered pleat-work (smocking) and what “appears” to be honeycomb smocking was a common element in garb and aprons of the 15th and 16th centuries in Germany (see my hone…

Smocks have a long and diverse history. This exhibition will explore some of the sixty-three smocks held in the MERL's collection

I began my life in the hands of a farmer's wife; rectangles of linen cloth spun in front of a fire and woven in the damp hills of Wales. Smiling the wife smooths the cloth on her knee, pleased with my gentle weight and the evenness of my thread. I am to be a gift for…

Eshyah Ogen on Instagram: "Tap for a history lesson 👇 Smocking is an old English technique that was developed around the 15th century. Originally, it was used as a practical stitch to give structure and elasticity to the simple-cut, woven garments of the period, as well as giving labour workers better movement in their clothes. The name Smock comes from the garments it was used on, and thus the name stuck with the stitch. Later, smocking acquired a more decorative nature, on cuffs, neck…

Posts about Fabric Manipulation written by Ruth Singer

Smocking was a part of traditional dress long before it became associated with clothes for children. However, as a way of expressing devotion through hand sewing, smocking patterns like these remained popular: most of these patterns were featured in the McCall Needlework catalogs year after year. McCall 692 is one of the few patterns that…

I've been playing around with smocking. American Smocking apparently. I never knew there were two styles, one American the other English. I ...