Pocket Guide to Smocking

Learn the beautiful art of smocking, from your first pleats to your first finished design.

Pocket Guide to Smocking puts the essential techniques for this timeless form of decorative needlework into a compact guide you can keep right beside your work. Whether you’ve always wondered how those intricate pleats and stitches are created or want a handy reference for skills you already use, you’ll find clear guidance to help you get started and keep stitching.

Learn how to choose and prepare fabric, use a pleater, select needles and floss, stabilize lightweight fabrics, and pleat in the round, in straight rows, or for simple inserts. Then move on to the stitches themselves, from classic geometric designs and trellises to stacked-cable picture smocking.

Clear step-by-step instruction also shows you how to read a smocking “plate,” so you can understand patterns and take on new designs with confidence.

Small enough to keep with your sewing supplies or beside your pleater, Pocket Guide to Smocking gives you the essential know-how to turn beautifully pleated fabric into smocking of your own.