Tag: smocks

smocks galore!

Smocking

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 what I learned from the collection at the Museum of English Rural Life.

Issue 1 of Textisles is available as a Ravelry download, as it also includes Kate’s Warriston sweater pattern. It talks about the etymology of the word “frock” and the gender of a garment, and there’s a really interesting article about the English Smock. Then there’s a “Meet the Maker” section… which is me!

The next issue is due out in August, and will have a nautical theme featuring Kate’s Betty Mouat design. Whether you’re more interested in the textile history or the knitting patterns, Textisles is a fabulously well-researched and thoroughly interesting magazine. I can’t wait to read the next one – and I’m not even in it!

Pirate Shirt

Simplicity 4923

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 with flat broderie anglais lace – all from my stash. The collar size and length are just right, but the sleeves are absolutely ridiculous – even by 18th century standards. I could easily shorten them by four or five inches and they’d still be enormous!

Next time I think I’d like to make one in a nice soft white linen. I’ve found the perfect linen buttons too – just like the ones on the smocks at MERL. In fact, I might employ a technique I saw on a number of the MERL smocks, and make some horizontal tucks in the sleeves to shorten them.

I also want to have a look at The Cut of Men’s Clothes by Norah Waugh, and see what I want to do about the front fastening. I don’t really want to add eyelets and ribbon, so I might go for thread loops and little buttons. I should have done that on the sleeves, but for the sake of convenience (and maybe a touch of laziness) I went for snap fasteners instead.

There’s another goth night in a couple of weeks, so I plan to wear this with Paul’s old leather trousers. If I have time, I might make a waistcoat to go over the top. I’ve still got a piece of black and silver brocade that should be just about big enough.

Smocking workshop this weekend

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 Saturday and Sunday, and you need to be able to attend both sessions. It costs £35, and you’ll be provided with all of the materials you need to make a smocked bag.

All abilities are welcome! Even if you’ve never sewn a stitch in your life, this is a simple project that you should be able to manage over the weekend. If you’re an experienced needleworker, then you can used more advanced techniques to produce an intricate design.

To book your place you can call 0118 378 8660, send an email to merlevents@reading.ac.uk, or fill in the online booking form.

Still working on the smocks

MERL smocks

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 I haven’t been blogging much lately. I haven’t been doing much sewing or knitting because I’ve been hanging out at the museum, typing. Apparently there is no limit to the number of times you can type the word “smock” in a single paragraph.

I’m about half way through now, so the end is (sort of) in sight, and there are plans afoot for possible new displays in the future.

I do have some close-up pictures of a couple of the really fine and delicate smocks that we looked at, so I’ll post those for you very soon.

Still Seeing Smocks…

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 H&M website, including some really good ones of the detailing on the dress… but the site is entirely built in Flash, so I can’t give you links to follow. Here’s a screenshot instead:

The summer collection comes into stores worldwide tomorrow, so I might have to pay a visit to my local H&M, to have a closer look at the details.

Seeing Smocks Everywhere…

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?