Making a Small Child’s Smocked Frock

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 87, Issue 6, 15 December 1953, Page 579

Making a Small Child’s Smocked Frock

FASHIONS in trimmings come and go, but smocking takes no heed of this tide of popularity; it is an all-time favourite. It gives that much sought after hand-made touch to dresses, blouses, children's wear, lingerie, and especially is it in its natural setting on those indispensable smocks which save so much wear and tear on the clothes which they temporarily replace. Its charm lies partly in the speed and ease with which it can be accomplished and partly in being a simple decorative stitch suitable to any age and condition. The frock described in this article by , Maud B. Strain, Field Officer in Rural Sociology, Department of Agriculture, Dunedin, is suitable for an average child of 9 months to l| or 2 years.

SMOCKING provides a convenient and artistic way of keeping fullness under control, in places where fullness is not desirable, without having to resort to belts and other constricting bands. The dress of a small child not yet walking needs to be full so as to hang freely while the child is being carried on the crook of one’s arm, but this fullness should not be in evidence above the waist. Even a 3- or 4-year-old needs plenty of freedom of movement, and at this age a band of smocking round the waist will provide the necessary control and be decorative at the same time. The frock in the heading photograph requires Ijyds. of 36in. material or lfyds. of 30in. material. . It can be made in a wide variety of materials: Silk, crepe-de-chine, nylon, haircord, lawn, handkerchief linen, viyella, cly della, and similar fabrics all being suitable. Nylon is ideal for laundering, because it requires so little ironing, unlike some other materials on which it is somewhat difficult to restore ' smocking to its original appearance. The most satisfactory method of ironing smocking is to place it right side downward on a towel folded thickly and to press it lightly on the

wrong side. The point of the iron should not be run into the gathers in case it breaks the smocking threads. If a very fine material is being used and extra fullness is desired, this may be achieved by using a whole width for the front. An extra ' jyd. of material would then be required. Drawing the Pattern Following are the directions for drawing the pattern in the diagrams on page 581: — Front of frock: A piece of paper 18in. by 14in. is required. It is helpful, though not essential, to have the paper ruled in lin. squares. Make a dot (W) jin. down from the top line and on the left side line. Make a dot (X) jin. down from the top line and 3in. in from the right side line. Draw a straight line joining W and X. Make a dot (Y) 2|in. down from the top line and lj-in. in from the right side line. Make a dot (Z) fin. up from the base line and on the right side line. Draw a straight line to join Y and z.

Join X and Y by a curved line to form part of an armhole. Join the point at the bottom left corner (B) to Z by a slightly curved line. Mark notches as indicated; they will be found helpful when making up the frock. ‘ Back of frock: For this a piece of paper 18in. by 12in. is required. Mark a point (W) jin. down from the top line and on the right side line. Mark a point (X) jin. down from the top line and 3jin. in from the left side line. Mark a point (Y) 2jin. down from the top line and 2in. in from the left side line. Mark a point (Z) fin. up from the base line and on the left side line. Draw a straight line from Y to Z and another from X to W. Join X and Y by a curved line to form part of an armhole. Join the point at the bottom right corner (B) to Z by a slightly curved line. . . Mark a point (S) 3in. down from W on the right side line. Sleeve: For this a piece of paper 7in. by 12in. is required. Mark a point (A) lin. up from the base line and on the left side line. Mark a point (B) 4|in. up from the base line and jin. in from the left side line. Mark a point (C) 4jin. up from the base line and 2in. in from the left side line..

Mark a point (D) 6jin. up from the base line and sjin. in from the left side line.

Mark a point (E) sjin. up from the base line and 4in. in from the right side line.

Mark a point (F) 4in. up from the base line and 2in. in from the right side line.

Mark a point (H) 3fin. up from the base line and fin. in from the right side line.

Mark a point (K) jin. up from the base line and jin. in from the right side line.

Mark a point (L) j-in. up from the base line and 6in. in from the right side line.

Draw a straight line to join B to A and another to join H to K.

Draw a smoothly curved line joining the points B, C, D, E, F, and H.

Draw a slightly curved line joining the points A, L, and K.

This sleeve is intended to be gathered into a fin. wide sleeve band. For this, two strips of material Bin. long by 2jin. wide are needed; this allows fin. turnings all round. If a sleeve similar to the one in the heading photograph is being made, an extra inch should be added to the bottom edge of the sleeve pattern.

Yoke front: For this a piece of paper 6in. by sin. is required.

Mark a point (A) 2fin. up from the base line and on the left side line.

Mark a point (F) 3in. up from the base line and lin. in from the left side line.

Mark a point (B) 4fin. up from the base line and If in. in from the left side line.

Mark a point (C) 2fin. up from the base line and fin. in from the right side line.

Mark a point (D) lin. up from the base line and lfin. in from the right side line.

Mark a point E on the base line and lin. in from the right side line.

Draw a straight line from B to C. From A draw a curve through F to B to give the neckline.

From C draw a line almost straight to D and slightly rounded from D to E to form part of the front armhole.

Collar: For this pattern a piece of paper 7in. by 4in. is necessary.

Mark a point (R) on the base line and lf-in. in from the left side line.

Mark a point (S) jin. up from the base line and lin. in from the right side line.

Mark a point (K) jin. up from the base line and 2in. in from the left side line.

Mark a point (L) lin. up from the base line and 2Jin. in from the left side line.

Mark a point (M) Ijin. up from the base line and 3in. in from the left side line.

Mark a point (N) Ijin. up from the base line and 4in. in from the left side line.

Mark a point (O) lin. up from the base line and sin. in from the left side line.

Draw a curved line from R to S connecting up all the points R, K, L, M, N, O, and S to form the neck edge of the collar.

Mark a point (B) Ijin. up from the base line and jin. in from the left side line.

Mark a point (C) 2Jin. up from the base line and fin. in from the left side line.

Mark a point (H) 4in. up from the base line and 4in. in from the left side line.

Mark a point (T) 2in. up from the base line and on the right side line.

Draw a curved line joining the points R, B, C, H, T, S together to form the outside edge of the collar. R is the centre front of the collar.

Yoke back: For this a piece of paper 6in. by sin. is required. Mark a point (Z) 3jin. up from the base line and on the left side line.

Mark a point (Y) 4 Jin. up from the base line and 2fin. in from the left side line.

Mark a point (X) 2jin. up from the base line and jin. in from the right side line.

Mark a point (W) on the base line and jin. in from the right side line.

Draw a curved line from Z to Y to form the neck edge.

. Draw a straight line from Y to X and a slightly curved line from X to W.

Cutting out the. Frock

To cut the frock out fold the material in halves lengthwise and place the pattern pieces as shown in the illustration at the bottom of page 581, the centre back, centre front, and centre front yoke on the fold of the material, and the sleeve, yoke back, and collar as indicated. The collar is in two pieces, a right and left half, and each is cut double, making four pieces.

When the frock is cut out there should be one front, one back, one front yoke, two back yokes, - two sleeves, and four parts to the collar; one half collar is cut out and then the pattern is lifted and placed further along the material so that the other half can be cut.

Marking off the Transfer

It is necessary to decide beforehand which smocking design is to be used, as this governs the number of rows of dots to be stamped on the material. The most convenient spacings are jin. between dots and fin. between rows.

The design used in the frock illuS' trated required 15 rows.

Open the front of the frock out flat and pin a smocking transfer in place 1 Jin. from the - sleeve edge and fin. down from the top edge on the wrong side of the material. Using a warm iron, press the transfer on to the material; do not slide the iron backward and forward, as it may cause blurring of the dots.

Working the Smocking

With a needle and piece of cotton firmly knotted at one end run a thread through all the dots on one row; leave the end of cotton hanging loose. Repeat this with each row.

When the running threads are all done draw them up evenly but not too tightly and secure the ends of cotton by winding them in pairs round a pin (see illustration at left). Pull the work so that

the pleats lie evenly and turn the material to the right side where the smocking has to be done. The gathering threads will be a guide in keeping the lines of smocking straight.

When the smocking is completed the gathering threads are taken out, allowing the work to expand. If necessary, the work may be placed right side down on a thick ironing blanket and pressed .lightly with a moderately hot iron over a dampened cloth. In this particular pattern only two basic stitches are used: Outline stitch (see illustration on page 584) is worked on rows 1 and 2 with a row of surface honeycomb between; this is repeated with rows 3 and 4, 12 and 13, and 14 and 15. The diamonds are worked in 6 rows of vandyke stitch (an elaboration of outline stitch) , 3 rows upward between rows 8 and 5 and 3 rows downward between rows 8 and 11. A small dot catching two pleats together is made in the centre of each diamond. If a frilled sleeve is being made, a very narrow hem is taken along the bottom edge, care being taken to have a right and a left sleeve. Two rows of dots are stamped on to the material, the first row about Jin. to fin. above the hem. The smocking is worked exactly as on the first, and second rows on the frock. *

Making up the Frock

All pattern pieces have gin. allowance for turnings. Make a gin. hem at the centre back edge of the back yoke pieces, being careful to have a right and a left side. Join the back yoke pieces to the front yoke at the shoulder with a french seam or flat felled seam. Make a 3in. slash down the centre back to point S on the pattern. Make a narrow hem down each side; then lap the right side about jin. over the left and stitch down securely. Gather the top edge of the back and stitch on to the back yoke, making a lapped seam. Stretch the front of the frock, if necessary, to fit the yoke front, tack in place, and stitch down (as for the back).

Join up the side seams of the frock, using french seams. Join up sleeve seams similarly. Run a gathering thread round the top of the sleeve Jin. in from the edge; remember that a double row of gathering threads always makes the gathers easier to control while machining. Set the sleeves in place, putting the centre top of the sleeve to the shoulder seam of the frock, and the sleeve seam to correspond with the side seam of the frock. Stitch in place with a french seam or a plain overcast seam.

If the frock is being made of nylon, no seams must be left with raw edges, because this material frays readily.

The collar is made next in two halves. Stitch round the outside edge of the collar fin. in from the edge; turn the collar right side out and press well. It will be necessary to clip the seam allowance at intervals or even to cut some of it away to make the collar press neatly. Do the second half similarly. Set the collar on to the neckline, making the two halves meet at the centre front. Pin them in place. Cut a strip of material on the bias lin. wide and about lin. longer than the distance round the neckline of the frock. Baste the collar and bias facing, right sides together,

round the neckline on the right side of the frock. Stitch down. Trim the seams, clip the seam allowance, and turn the bias facing to the inside; turn under the free edge and hem.

Turn up a lin. hem at the bottom of the frock. Make two buttonholes on the right side of the back yoke, one as near as it can be to the neck edge and the other just above the seam joining the skirt to the yoke. Sew on buttons to correspond and press the frock.

Smocking Stitches Used

The following are the smocking stitches used for the frock:—

Outline stitch: This is like stem stitch used in ordinary embroidery except that a pleat is taken up with each stitch. Bring the needle up on the left side of a pleat; then pick up the top of the next pleat to the right, allowing the needle to slant slightly upward to the left so that the resulting stitch will also slant.. Draw the stitch up and continue to the end in the same way, taking up every pleat in turn.

Honeycomb stitch: This is one of the few smocking stitches worked from right to left. Beginning at the right-hand end, bring the needle up from the wrong side to the left of the second pleat; take a back stitch over the second and first pleat; then take the needle down on the right side of the second pleat, take the needle through this pleat and the next one (third), and take a back, stitch over these two. Then take the needle up the right side of the third pleat, take the needle through this pleat and the next, and make a back stitch over these two. Continue in this way to the end.

Vandyke stitch: Stitches worked in vandykes are a feature of smocking and give scope for innumerable arrangements. Outline stitch is one of the easiest to use for this purpose. Instead of making the stitches in a straight row work each a little higher than the last up to the gathering thread above, in this case to the second above; then work each a little lower than the last down to the gathering thread on which the work began.