Operation Manual
Smocking
Smocking
is
a
technique
with
which
several
seams
sewn
parallel
to
each
other
produce
a
gathering
effect
which
is
mainly
used
for
children’s
wear
and
corsetry.
There
are
different
techniques:
1>
Smocking
with
gimp
thread
(non-elastic)
Gimp
thread
Programs
14
orlB
For
beautiful
smocking
effects
you
will
need
two
and
one
half
to
three
times
the
desired
finished
width
of
fabric.
The
smocked
section
is
usually
made
before
the
rest
of
the garment.
Light,
firm
materials
such
as
batiste
or
fine
linen
are
best
suited
for
this
tech
nique.
Draw
a
straight
line
on
the
fabric
as
a
guideline
for
the
first
gathering
seam
using
a
disappearing-ink
marker
or
almost
invisible
non-
o
greasy
chalk.
Insert
the
appliqué
foot,
loosen
the
screw
at
the
rear end
of
the
sewing
foot
holder,
and
push the
edge
guide
through
the
opening.
Place
the
fabric
to
be
smocked
face
side
up
under
the
sewing
foot and
introduce
the
gimp
thread
under
the
sewing
foot
in
such
a
way
that
it
runs
exactly
along
the
groove
in
the
foot.
Now
sew
the
first
row
of
smocking
and
leave
about
10
cm
(4-5
inches)
of
thread
protruding
from
the
beginning and
end
of
the
seam.Then
place
the
edge
guide
at
the
desired
distance
to
the
first
row
(approx.
2—2.5
cm
=
1/2-3/4
of
an
inch).
Varying
the
distance
between
rows
creates
dif
ferent
gathering
effects.
Now
sew
the
next
row
of
smocking
using
the
edge
guide
on
the
first
row
as
a
guideline. Continue
in
this
manner
until
you
have
sewn
as
many
rows
as
the
design
requires.
Then
carefully
pull
the
ends
of
the
gimp
thread
and
gather
the
fabric
uniformly
over
its
entire
width.
2)
Smocking
with
elastic
thread
Program
00
For
this
technique,
elastic
thread
is
wound
onto
the
bobbin
without
tension.
The
needle
thread
is
a
regular sewing
or
embroidery
thread.
Since
elastic
threads
are
much
thicker
than
normal
bob
bin
threads,
the tension
on
the
bobbin
case
must
be
set
extremely
loose.
However,
the
tighter
you
set the
bobbin-thread
tension, the
greater
the gathering
effect
you
obtain.
We
recommend
that
an
additional
bobbin
case
be
used
for
this
work.
For
this
kind
of
smocking,
fine
and
light
materials
such
as
light-
knit
fabric,
silk
or
satin are
also
suitable.
TIP:
Always
sew
a
test
seam
first! Draw
the
first
line on
the
face
side
of
the
fabric
and
then
sew
along
this
line.
Make
a
knot
in
the
thread
at
the
beginning and end
of
the seam.
In
the
following
parallel
seams
the
material
must
be
stretched
to
its
original
length
as
otherwise
the gathering
would
turn out
irregular.
L
1
L
L
L
116