I was trying very hard to clean in the sewing room (honest!) last week and I came across Issue No. 95 of Australian Smocking and Embroidery, (AS&E) that had this sweet little smocked heart. Since when I started it Valentine's Day was almost upon us, I decided to drop everything and make it. I got so involved in it I wasn't too good about taking pictures, but I think I can get the gist of it across.
Here's the pattern with the grid for the lattice smocking. It didn't fit on one page, and the two weren't perfectly aligned. So I made sure of the grid spacing and alignment, then fudged the cutting lines. They are only 1 - 2 mm off, so not much of a problem there.
This is such a little project I was able to scrounge around for all the materials in my sewing room. I'm using pink silk dupioni scraps from my sister's sewing business. I made all the markings with a blue washout pen, as a quick spritz of water erases all the blue. The instructions said to sew the side seams together; those are the two straight ends on the pattern above. Then smock the pattern on the wrong side using machine sewing thread, which was a bit cumbersome as the fabric was now in a tube shape. This is Lattice Smocking, a variation of North American or Canadian Smocking. I showed you an example of Lozenge Smocking, another variant, when I described a photo album cover I made at a SAGA Convention. I smocked two rows of the lattice.
After completing the smocking, I had to fit it around a little heart shaped pillow made out of muslin and stuffed with polyfil. I pulled the ends tight on both sides, pushed the ends into the pillow as best I could, then stitched them to secure. The two rows of lattice sit nicely on either side of the pillow edges.
On the back the fabric ends are hidden behind a pretty pink mother of pearl button. This was one of the buttons I received in that lovely raffle basket from the SAGA Convention. I glammed it up a bit by using gold beads. Actually, they were on the table as they were left over from the last pincushion. I think they make a nice contrast, much better than using pink or white, don't you think?
Next up, some silk ribbon embroidery for the front!
So pretty! Stitching on that is definitely more fun than cleaning!
ReplyDeleteOh heavens, is that beautiful or what?!! What a creative variation you made from the original--I like it more. Thanks for sharing t with us...
ReplyDeleteThis is such a sweet little project, and so beautifully done. I, too, am cleaning and organizaing my sewing room. This looks like more fun!
ReplyDeleteits too lovely.it stolen my heart,
ReplyDeletei want to make it for my love annivarsry.
can u please tell me size of cloth?
and prepared cousion size