I was introduced to North American Smocking around 2001, when I was team teaching a fashion lesson at the college. This type of smocking is also known as Canadian Smocking or Capitone depending which part of the world you are from. This isn’t the usually smocking that you find on some old fashion kids clothing from back in the 70’s. This was something more magical. I just love the simplicity of how these geometrical shapes are produced.
With just a few simple tools and basic sewing skills, you will be able to create a magnificent piece of textile art in very little time. Obviously it depends on the size of your project. I was so hooked on this smocking technique that I would spend hours upon hours trying out other sewing orders to create some of my own designs. I used to use up all my work diary pages documenting and doodling my designs and ideas. Over the years I started noticing this type of smocking technique starting to appear on garments in the high streets, for example Topshop fashion chain, and recently in films, like Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings, just to name a few.
During my final year working at the the college I had the opportunity incorporate smocking, origami, packaging, and tessellation (4 of my favourite hobby/design/techniques) in the final project for my first years fashion students. This was a bit challenging because the students had never learn to pattern cut and sew in their first project so I was teaching these techniques as well as pattern cut and production at the same time. Not forgetting photoshop and Illustrator during graphics lesson!
I might have discovered some new designs just by randomly choosing a sequence of corners to sew. Sometimes the same technique yields more than one outcome. I am not claiming I am the inventor of this technique but it is easy to create a design that may have already existed. Many people before me have created many designs. I am merely scratching the surface. You can easily search up the 3 main keywords to find out more designs: North American Smocking, Canadian Smocking, and Capitone.
This is one of my favourite smocking technique called the Flower or Diamond, depending how you manipulate the fabric. I actually produced this design by accident. You can get up to 4 or more different varieties with the pattern. I am not really sure what this pattern is actually called because of the 4 different outcomes. I was intending to make the flowers design at first. I used Poly-Cotton for sampling because it was cost effective and I like the clean look and great for presentation. The geometric design look really crisp and clean when ironed. I actually used a heat press so I couldn’t control the positioning of the cloth. The design slightly moved causing the misalignment. Oh well, something learnt for next time.
Imagine you discovering a new design and later discover someone’s beat you to it. Yup, I know the feeling!
Ideally this smocking technique is best worked in a square or a rectangle shape to maximise the effect. Rectangles can be joined at the edges to form tubes or circles to make round cushions. The application is endless. Clothes, bedspreads, soft furnishings, curtains, and upholsteries to name a few. If you use a press or an iron you will get crisp edges. Smocking designs can benefit from using a certain type of fabric weight or distance of stitches. I find sometimes it is best to use a line/grid system while times I will just use evenly spaced dots.
Smocking: Pattern 1 Lattice/Trellis
I have been cataloging my designs since the beginning of time, so over the next few months I will be releasing all the different designs for you to download and practice. Either scan the QR code on the printout with your smart phone (need QR Code reader installed) to take you to the tutorial page or just navigate there on the website: Tutorials then Fabric Manipulation. Hopefully I have time to make a video on this but with a 1 year old running around I can’t guarantee this.
I am sure you can easily find a lot of these designs, like I have mentioned earlier, I did not invent this technique. If you try out other sewing sequences you too can discover other smocking designs.
Download this design: Smocking Pattern 1 Lattice/Trellis
If you are after the Diamond/Flower Pattern, that will be the second pattern I will be releasing. Just follow me on Facebook/Instagram/Youtube for updates on releases.
Have fun and let me know how you get on!
Shan x