Smocking guides
These guides cover what you need to smock from a plate: reading the chart, setting up the pleater, working out the pleat count, estimating floss and finishing the panel. Each one is short and practical and links to plates you can try.
Guides
| Reading a plate | Grid, lines and stitch symbols |
| Using a pleater | Fabric, width and setup |
| Sizing by chest | Pleats and raw fabric width |
| Floss amounts | Thread per plate |
| Backsmocking | Rows worked from the back |
| Blocking | Steaming and finishing |
| Glossary | Terms and stitches |
Suggested order
- Reading a plate
- Using a pleater
- Sizing by chest
- Floss amounts
- Blocking
Once you are ready, pick a plate from the free plates or design your own in the Plate Designer. The collections hold eight plates each.
Every number in the guides matches the tool: the same engine produces the plates, the sizes and the floss estimates.
How the guides fit together
The first three guides get you ready to stitch: how the chart is drawn, how the fabric is pleated and how many pleats you need. The last four help you finish well: thread quantities, working from the back, blocking and the terms you meet in patterns.
Using them with the tool
Keep a guide open while you adjust settings in the designer. Every count in the guides, from pleats to floss, is produced by the same code as the plates, so a number you read in a guide will match the one on screen.
Read next
- Nightgown and Blouse Plates: Nightgown and Blouse Plates: eight printable smocking plates with sizing tables and floss estimates, $19 once, delivered as PDF and SVG.
- Sundress and Top Yokes: Sundress and Top Yokes: eight printable smocking plates with sizing tables and floss estimates, $19 once, delivered as PDF and SVG.
- Wave and Trellis Sampler: Wave and Trellis Sampler: eight printable smocking plates with sizing tables and floss estimates, $19 once, delivered as PDF and SVG.