Outline and Stem Ladder

Outline and Stem Ladder is a beginner smocking plate charted on 29 pleats and 3 worked rows. Outline over stem gives a flat, ropelike ladder that suits cuffs, collars and the top of a jon-jon. It uses outline and stem, stitched in blush and powder blue.

The plate at a glance

Level	Beginner
Pleats charted	29
Worked rows	3
Pleater setup	5 pleater rows (3 worked plus one holding row above and below)
Mirrored	yes, around pleat 15
Pleated width	7.25 in at 0.25 in per pleat
Raw fabric width at 3:1	21.75 in
Colors	2: blush and powder blue
Thread in all	1.86 yd

Row by row

Rows 1 to 3 read top down, pleats 1 to 29 from the left.

Rows	Stitch	Color	Pleats	Bites
1	Outline	Powder blue	1 to 29	29
2	Stem	Powder blue	1 to 29	29
3	Outline	Blush	1 to 29	29

The needle movement for Outline and Stem is described in the glossary.

Floss for this plate

Color	Thread (yd)	Skeins needed	Skeins to buy
Blush	0.62	0.04	1
Powder blue	1.24	0.08	1

Powder blue carries 67 percent of the thread; estimate for 3 strands, formula in the floss guide.

Pleats by chest size

The plate is mirrored around pleat 15, so the garment sizes keep an odd pleat count. The chart's 29 pleats cover 7.25 in; a front panel for an 18 in chest pleats to 41 pleats (30.75 in of fabric), one for a 28 in chest to 61 pleats (45.75 in); the full table by chest size is in how the sizing works.

Compared with the other free plates

Same 29 pleats as Three Cable Rows, Soft Baby Wave, Wave Stripe.
Outline also appears in Sailor Jon-Jon Band, Wave Sandwich.
Stem also appears in Wave Sandwich.
With 3 worked rows it is among the shortest free plates; 10 are longer.
It belongs with Geometric Plates for Beginners, eight plates on 31 and 32 pleats; the closest to this plate are First Cable Rows and Outline and Stem Ladder.

Print at 100 percent and check the inch square. See also how to read a plate and using a pleater.