Anyone understand smocking?

I want to use something called "English smocking" for a project.  

And after two hours of hunting on youtube, that's about all I can understand of it.  Can anyone here help me find some ultra beginner reference that doesn't start with the pre-folded fabric or 'buy this machine'?  

I'm definitely not the smocking expert you seek, as you've already taught me just now that english smocking is its own specific thing, but...
It looks really interesting, and seems like there are lots of ways to stitch it. I gather (is that a pun?) that the english style is simply pre-pleated, and then stitched in whatever way suits the desired design? One I saw looked basically like just a chain stitch across the ridges of the pleats, which seems simple enough, but obviously easier to imagine than to perform.

A handful of resources I found in trying to figure out the difference between english and other styles of smocking:

https://www.houseofsmocking.co.uk/english-smocking-beginners-sampler-smocking-plate-by-ellen-mccarn/
Simple, cheap, and different designs for it

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/558611652/step-by-step-english-smocking-patterns
Detailed, and seems beginner-friendly

https://egausa.org/courses/english-smocking/
Expensive, and probably great if you want to become an expert smocker, if you end up enjoying it

https://ruthsinger.com/2022/02/16/english-smocking/
Just interesting to read, but no real instructions. I did kind of feel like I could rawdog it after reading this, but that tends to be how I approach most fibre work, with varied results... I learned to turn a heel by knitting my first pair of socks with no pattern. I might be the worst person for fibre arts advice actually. It may be the only avenue of my life in which I just go in with no plan, not a thought in my brain lmao.

So others might understand what "smocking" is:

Smocking is an embroidery technique used to gather fabric so that it can stretch. Before elastic, smocking was commonly used in cuffs, bodices, and necklines in garments where buttons were undesirable. Smocking developed in England and has been practised since the Middle Ages and is unusual among embroidery methods in that it was often worn by laborers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smocking

I am not sure how "English Smocking" differs from what I have seen.  I had a dress with smocking around the hips and a housecoat with smocking on the front between the shoulders.

I found these YouTubes, though I don't know if this is "English Smocking" since I have never seen that:







If these are not helpful maybe someone else will enjoy them.

From what I can gather (love this pun), English smocking has more stretch to it whereas other smoking is more firm?  I think.   It's also not pinned to a board while stitching.

Other than that... ?

I'll read the links.  Thank you.  

Look what I found:



https://www.amazon.com/Grace-Knott-English-Smocking-1957/dp/B08MQ5PF3F

Looks like that last video and what was on my housecoat.

This summer I attempted to make a smocked blouse and a smocked apron. Both projects are still unfinished and I want to restart the apron as it's not looking how I want.

I also don't have a pleater, so I was drawing the grid and running basting lines by hand, the smocking takes a while and the gathering takes twice as long. I wasn't gathering more than an inch or two, but it was so slow that it was a little discouraging. I couldn't imagine doing by hand the typical full panels of work as used in wide necklines or children's clothes.

There has to be a way to make a crude pleater without running all that basting by hand...

In the video Anne shared, she's starting with fabric that was evenly basted and pulled into even, tiny pleats. I've seen sheets of iron- on dots that you use to get the spacing perfect, but see no reason it couldn't be accomplished by hand. It would be tedious,I think, but definitely doable. I know my great grandma made little smocked dresses by hand, for me. Smocking was also often done on gingham, because the print made the spacing incredibly easy.

Ranson, I think you might have a hackle for processing fibers, do you? If so, I think you can use that as a crude pleating machine if the tines are arranged in a perfect grid. If you use elastics to set the depth you want for your pleats on your hackle, lay a strip of fabric on top and use a wire or knife to gently press the fabric between the tines to form pleats. When your hackle is full of pleats, use your longest needle to run stitches through perpendicular to the pleats. Use several needles and keep them running through the fabric as you move your fabric across your hackle pleater, just lift the pleated section, place the pleated end at the edge of the hackle, press new pleats and run the lines again.

If I'm wrong and you don't have a hackle, make one from finishing nails and soft wood or rig one out of several plastic combs. A large and uncurved hairbrush could work for small projects. I think I'm going to try to make one out of a piece of foam core with short pins pressed into it to try this out.

If this works, that's a huge time saver and you can focus on the fun part of fancy smocking stitches. What project are you trying to make with this?

A very, very long time ago, someone gave me a kit for smocking a pretty cover for a planter. The base fabric had the dots alluded to above (yes, I've heard of iron-on dot tape, but I don't know if it's still available) and I had to do the running stitches through each dot as the first step. I then used embroidery thread to do the decorative stitches, then removed the running stitches and was amazed at just how stretchy it was.

I think the reason that even the poor had some amount of smocking was that they didn't have elastic for tightening things up, and even back then, loose fabric in the wrong place could lead to a nasty accident. They also had to get a lot of use out of clothing, so it was more likely to be made to fit people as they expanded or contracted based on food availability.

So I was excited about this for my own projects, and I did a crude trial with a hairbrush. The concept works, and with practice would pleat great widths faster than doing so row by row with hand basting. The hairbrush made the pleats a little larger than I'd want for garments, so it would be worth investing the time in preparing a smocking plate with tighter spacing. I did have trouble keeping the fabric pressed into the tines, and with a smaller pleat this is likely to be more of a problem, maybe packing in the pleats with wire or line would be needed, or maybe a light pressing/steaming with an iron before running the needles would be enough to hold the pleats.

But regardless, I now have a way to realize my smocking projects without hunting down a vintage pleater or spending hours at basting pleats. I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner, I'm glad you asked about this today!

I can remember having smocked dresses, across the chest, as a child and they itch like crazy. Not good memories for me, even if they are cute.