Thoughts on Smocking!

The Daygown from Smocked Baby Clothes.

This little Daygown is made from Swiss Flannel.  A lovely soft creamy fabric that promises sweet dreams.  And it is perfect even for air conditioning in the summer.  The daygown was made for a Sew Beautiful article about Honeycomb Smocking.  If you look closely at the yoke you will see it is smocked mostly with the  Honeycomb stitch.

Roses on the Collars and Roses between the Buttons.  I love Roses!

Notice that I used lace edging where the smocking meets the yoke.  Just a dainty little detail.

Cute smocking on the sleeves!

I pleated the sleeve in half spaces to give me more control of the small design as well as the soft fabric.
  You must pay close attention to your tension when you smock in cables.  They don't have much give and you don't want the sleeve to be too tight.

Pretty little sleeve.  All Done.  

Smocked sleeves are a great way to gather the fabric at baby's wrist.  The smocking gathers the fabric in so it fits baby and doesn't fall down to cover the little hand but it stretches, so it is not too tight.

This cute  picture of little girls knitting came from the blog "Little Jenny Wren".

I love this picture.  In my mind, the little girls are smocking!  Jenny wrote her thoughts about knitting.  Allowing for a difference in technique, you can almost substitute the word Smocking for Knitting.  Both are such leisurely pursuits, worked with your hands, done for the pleasure of it and always with the the thought "oh, I will do just one more row" before I put my work down. And of course I do several more rows.  I love to see the design develop right before my eyes!

Excerpt  from Little Jenny Wren blog:  "It is joy, isn't it, sometimes frustration and sometimes I guess like when you knit when you sit with a sick child in hospital you maybe are knitting your worried feelings into your work but they are the worried feelings of love.

I can't knit when I am angry, can you?"

 I love the last line!  She is right.  I can't smock when I am angry!