Smocking Warmth

Yes, I understand the niceness of warm clothes in the cold season. Anything that warm, cosy and comfortable is dear in the winter season. One such is the story of the making of this 'Smocking Warmth' an idea of the warmth of love and care. My niece is just 9 years old. She is highly talented, creative and a quick learner. She always asks me to teach her something nice and new projects. Being so small, I wonder what could I teach her with easy steps and make her feel happy.

This 'Smocking Warmth' is a jacket I plan on gifting and teaching my niece this Summer (if Covid gives some room for kindness and warm meet-ups). Smocking is an embroidery technique used to pinch the fabric creating some intriguing patterns and designs mainly for elasticity. A completely blissful appearance.

I haven't had time to do smocking for the past few years now. Unsure if I could try it out, I decided to give it a sincere try before I jump on a real big time project. In this project, I will share all the steps for you to achieve this hand-sewn project for a project in the future.

Stay back and learn this intriguing smocking design with very few materials and just a couple of hours.

Supplies

1. 19 " X 13" red velvet cloth (you may use any cloth, but velvet gives a much superior quality results)

2. Sewing needle

3. Red cotton thread

4. Ruler

5. Scissors

6. Pen or maker

7. Beads (optional)

Step 1: Materials Checklist

Now that you've gathered all the materials, do the following. Make sure your cloth is neat and ironed (this is optional). But a wrinkle-free cloth helps achieve amazing results. I checked on both the sides of the cloth. The red velvet cloth looks good on the right side with all the sheen and shine, The wrong side is dull and light-colored when compared to the right side. I decided to choose the right side and have the flower smocking design done on this side of the cloth.

Step 2: Add Grid Lines

In this step, I choose to have 1.5" lines marked horizontally and vertically on the bright right side of the fabric As see in pic 1, you can how the 1.5" X 1.5" grid lines or squares are marked on the cloth using a pen. Now, look at pic 2 to see how the squares are picket to make the cross lines. Mark a cross on one square and then leave the next. Complete the entire cloth with these cross lines,. These steps are shown in pic 3-6.

Step 3: Stitching One Flower Design

I started with one corner of the crossed square. Consider this as pt 1 as shown in pic 1 and the bottom square image. Make a small stitch as see in pic 2 at the second corner. Then make the next small stitch at pt 3 which is the third corner of the square as shown in pic 3. Then a similar stitch as pt 4 which is the last corner of the square. Finally bring back the last stitch to the first corner of the square, see pic 7. Make sure you have covered all the 4 corners of the square and you return to the starting point. This is neatly depicted in pic 8.

Step 4: Make the Flower

This is an important step after you've completed just one small running stitch on each of the corners of the square. In this step carefully pull the thread together. Here you see that the floral petals have to be carefully arranged. Initially it may appear messy and convoluted, but there's nothing to worry. Stay calm. Tie a knot carefully. Tug in a few times with your needle and mark a strong knots. Cut off the thread. This completes the first flower in the series.

Repeat the pattern on all the crossed squares on the cloth. Watch all these steps as shown in the images. Row 1 is complete in the last pic shown. So far, so good.

Step 5: Continue the Momentum

Good job so far. By now you have been able to complete the rows and columns. Neatly stitch, pull, tie and cut the threads. With this all the 6 rows and 4 columns are completed. Here is an important step. Make sure you arrange the petals of all the flowers to look good on the symmetry. Refer the last picture to see how this is done. Neatness give a amusing finish.

Step 6: Design on the Wrong Side

Smocking is a technique which is pinching the fabric to create elasticity predominantly but results in an amazing design pattern. Although I chose the right side of the fabric for the main design, this pattern result in a wonderful pattern on the back side as well. Look for pic 1 above. Should you like this design to be on the front side make the last pattern on the back side and it will be reversed. It's that simple.

Step 7: Add Beaded Embellishment

Although the smocking design looks great so far. Adding beaded embellishment takes it to the next level, This brings in a stunning attraction to the fabric. Take a bead and stitch it at the center of the flower as shown in pic 3. Continue this on the second, third and all other 6 rows. Then, move on to the next one and complete all the rest. This completes the entire pattern for all 6 rows and 4 columns.

The original cloth of 19" X 13" has now shrunk to 12" X 7". I was super excited and showed this to my niece. She's thrilled to learn this new embroidery technique called 'Smocking'. She could not believe her eyes it was handmade.

Although I wanted to make this 'warm' jacket for my niece right away, I don't want to do that until she picks a color of her choice and make one to fit her choice. Lastly teach her to make her happy and have some 'warmth' of love and care.

Are you looking for sew something 'warm'??

Thank you for visiting my page. It did bring me some warmth.