Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Ellie Inspired September Smock Along

Wow, I have just realized I have not updated this blog in a couple of months!  I have been meaning to blog about September's Smock Along sponsored by Ellie Inspired.  I am so drawn to this designer, as she says on her website, she really does design "classic clothing for children."  Her clothing designs are classic without looking old fashioned or out of date.





The name of the dress pattern is Ellie Inspired's Autumn Grace.  I chose to use my Frozen fabric on this and create a fun Christmas look.




Not only do I love her designs, but she is such a nice lady and this past year has really been dedicated to educating new sewers about classic sewing techniques such as smocking.  Smocking is simply an embroidery technique that is used to gather fabric to give it a little stretch.  It was commonly used in clothing before the invention of elastic.  In today's heirloom sewing, it is often quite elaborate and beautiful.



The basic stitches are actually quite easy.  I found smocking to be quite relaxing, and actually easier to learn than cross stitching, which I have been doing since I was a child.  The geometric designs I used are repetitive and can be done without at lot of thought once you get in the rhythm.



The next challenge I want to tackle in the near future is picture smocking.  This is actually creating little pictures from the smocking stitches, and is a little more involved than a simple geometric design.



Ellie Inspired will be rolling out their holiday line of patterns for boys, girls, and women in the next couple of weeks.  I am testing the girl's patterns. and have been a busy bee.  They are spectacular, so stay tuned, I will be sharing publicly as soon as I am allowed!  For now, here is a little sneak peek of the Ellie Inspired Holly Days Baby Dress :)