easily distracted by shiny things…
Posted in embroidery, knitting, writing on Jul 22nd, 2011
How exciting – I’m in a magazine! The magazine in question is a brand-new digital publication by Kate Davies, whose blog I’ve been following and whose knitting patterns I’ve been queueing for some time. So you can imagine how excited I was when she asked me whether I’d be willing to talk about smocking, and [...]
Today, rather than sewing something I actually need, like a dress for work or a winter coat, I decided to make a pirate shirt. As you do. (If you’re me.) The pattern is Simplicity 4923, view C. I made a size Medium. The fabric is just a plain black polycotton, and the cuffs are trimmed [...]
Posted in embroidery, FAQ, sewing on Sep 16th, 2009
Just a quick reminder that this weekend is my smocking workshop at the Museum of English Rural Life. Today is the very last day that you can sign up – in fact you’ve got about an hour and a half left if you want to secure a place! The course runs from 2:15-4:15 on both [...]
Posted in inspiration, photos on Jul 16th, 2009
This is a sneaky peek at one of the object storage cases at the Museum of English Rural Life. Frances and I took out every single smock, photographed and measured it, and took lots and lots of notes. Now the task is to type up all of those notes, which is one of the reasons [...]
Posted in inspiration, shopping on May 13th, 2009
Yep, I’m definitely still seeing smocks – or at least some kind of smocking! I opened up the June 2009 edition of UK Vogue last night, which featured Matthew Williamson’s new designs for H&M. This pretty blouse and dress both have smocked panels on the shoulders and sleeves. There are some more pictures on the [...]
Posted in inspiration on May 12th, 2009
I was watching Cranford on the iPlayer, when I spotted Harry wearing a smock! I couldn’t get a clearer picture than this, but there’s a smocked panel front and back, and at both the shoulders and cuffs on the sleeves. Am I going to see smocks everywhere I look from now on?