Smocking! But not for clothing...

When you think of smocking, if you're like me, you think of this:

This is from the mid-1890s, and it's Liberty of London!

Or, perhaps you think of this:

Or, you might even think of this:

 Bottega Veneta

I must say I love this pink dress.  Smocking is an interesting way to add elasticity to a garment, especially back in the days before rubber & elastic.  For me, just another ingenious technique humans came up with to solve problems.  

I learned a bit about smocking when I lived in Abu Dhabi.  The quilting group there had a demo about it & I was fascinated how flat fabric became richly textured fabric with a few simple marks & stitches.  When I was at my sewing class last week, I bought some fake suede remnants to do some experimentation with smocking.  I'm thinking that when we get our sun room finished and finally buy a couch, we're going to need pillows.  And smocked pillows would be pretty fun.

Also, it's a by-hand hobby (like knitting or crocheting).  Whereas I can only do sewing in my sewing room.  I can smock in the comfort of our sun room with the new fireplace! Obviously I'm planning for winter already!  

Here's a photo of some before navy suede.  Next post I'll show you what I've been doing with it!