Smocking plates you can design and print

Design a smocking plate in your browser: stack rows of cable, wave, trellis and honeycomb, choose colors, mirror the chart around the center and see the pleat count for a chest size. It is free and needs no account.

What the Plate Designer gives you

• A chart in graph notation for up to 24 rows.
• Pleat count and raw fabric width from chest size, ease and fabric ratio.
• A floss estimate in yards and skeins for each color.
• Row by row instructions, ready to print.

Free plates and collections

Fifteen free plates start with three plain cable rows and go up to trellis, surface honeycomb and pictures. If you want more, each of the ten collections holds eight plates in print ready PDF and SVG for $19. Bishop dresses, boys' jon-jons, holidays and nightgowns each have their own set.

Learn as you go

The guides explain how to read a plate, use a pleater, size a yoke by chest measurement and finish the panel. All the numbers come from the same engine as the tool, so what you read is what you can check.

Where to begin

• Three Cable Rows for a first plate.
• Bishop Dress Plates for an heirloom yoke.
• How to read a plate if charts are new.

Made for hand smocking

Plates assume a quarter inch pleat spacing and a standard six strand skein. The pleat table covers chest sizes 18 to 28 inches, so a plate can be sized for a small child or a larger garment. The designer lets you mirror a chart around its center, which is how many yokes are worked, and checks that honeycomb has an even pleat count while mirrored plates have an odd one.

Print and stitch

Every plate prints at true size with a one inch square for checking scale. Read the guide on floss amounts to plan your thread.