Can you smock without elastic thread?
Smocking uses embroidery stitches to gather fabric to help create stretch—and add decorative patterns at the same time—without the use of elastic thread. Smocking is often done by hand, utilizing pleats to create intricate designs and manipulate the appearance and fit of a garment.
Shirring is created by using elastic thread in the bobbin and all-purpose thread in the needle, while sewing rows of stitches 3/8″ – 1/2″ apart with 3-4mm stitch length. The elastic thread will evenly gather the fabric while creating stretch and texture.
Elastic thread is used in the bobbin in combination with regular thread in the top stitch because the elastic thread is too thick to be threaded through the machine. Note that the amount of stretch is limited by the regular thread. Elastic thread is great for elastic waist bands, ruffles, and techniques like shirring.
Shirring is gathering fabric to decorate garment sections like the yoke, sleeves, and bodice; while smocking is a technique where fabric is gathered as a decorative embroidery design. Shirring results in round tucks that are evenly spaced, while smocking creates pleats without a stretch.
Shirring is a magical technique that shrinks a piece of fabric and transforms it into something stretchy. It's great for skirt waistbands, shirt hems and bodices. And all it takes is sewing a few rows of stitches with elastic thread.
To Transfer Pattern Markings
Using the tracing wheel makes the process much easier and helps ensure all the marks go exactly where they should. To transfer notches, use the tracing wheel to mark a line about ¼” long from the pattern piece edge into the seam allowance.
Scrap fabric.
thin fabric such as seersucker or cotton gauze will shirr tighter than quilting/fashion cotton). The heavier/thicker the fabric, the less power your shirring will have. It's best to stick to lighter weight fabrics. Thread to match the fabric you've chosen.
Make sure that your bobbin is not too full of the elastic thread. Try re-threading your whole machine. Make sure your elastic thread isn't too tight or too loose on the bobbin. Make sure you didn't mess with the tension (or any other settings) of your machine while adjusting your stitch length.
Ruching is made by creating two or more parallel lines of gathering. Shirring is a gathering technique done with elastic thread, which creates a stretchy garment. Elastic thread is used in the bobbin, causing the fabric to gather up when stitched.
Material that is one of the best alternatives to elastic is knit or stretchable material. One example of a knit material is jersey.
Can you use regular thread on stretchy fabric?
All-purpose polyester thread will work fine as it has some give when stretched. Cotton thread is not recommended. If the item you're making needs to be stretchy or form-fitting to the body, you may want to use elastic thread. Only use elastic thread in the bobbin of your sewing machine, and wind it by hand.
- Cross-stitch. Commonly used for decorative purposes, the cross-stitch is X-shaped and arrayed like tiles.
- Whipstitch. The thread spirals around the edge of one or both pieces of fabric. ...
- Running stitch. ...
- Ladder stitch. ...
- Backstitch.
Trellis stitch: a medium density pattern that uses stem stitches and outline stitches to form diamond-shaped patterns. I. Vandyke stitch: a tight variant on the surface honeycomb stitch that wraps diagonal stitches in the opposite direction.
We recommend using the zigzag stitch on your sewing machine as it allows the fabric to stretch and retract with the thread. The twin needle will do two rows of zigzag stitching, offering a more secure stitch with a professional finish.
Choose the right needle – all stretchy knit fabrics should be sewn with a special needle; either a ballpoint or a stretch needle. A ballpoint needle consists of a rounded tip, which pushes the yarns away when sewing. It avoids damaging knit fabric while cutting and sewing.
Shirring works well on most light to medium weight fabrics. It works best on lightweight cottons and jerseys and creates a beautiful textured effect with LOTs of stretch!
The texture and thickness (and colour) of your fabric will often dictate which transfer method you use, as well as the materials you may have on hand. The three main methods of transferring your embroidery pattern to your fabric are tracing, transfer, and using a stabilizer.
The three options are chalk (or wax) in the form of solid lumps or pens and pencils, tailor's tacks or snipping the fabric.
- Drafting.
- Draping.
- Flat paper patternmaking.
There are two great ways to attach fabric without sewing: fabric glue or a fusible bonding tape like Dritz Stitch Witchery. If you have a sewing machine, sewing is often still the fastest and most reliable method for many projects, but fabric glue or Stitch Witchery are great alternatives.
Can you Shirr with a serger?
It works so well! Not all sergers are capable of making a chain stitch, but if yours can, you should be able to achieve similar results. My serger is from the early '90s, and I have a great workbook for it. In it are all kinds of useful and decorative techniques including shirring.
Note, that some fabrics shirr better than others, fabric that are too heave or to lightweight will not work. The perfect material for this technique is a cotton quilting fabric but other materials can work too. Test your fabric first to make sure it will work.
Gathering is drawing up fullness into a predetermined size smaller area. The fullness is meant to show, unlike easing where it shouldn't be overly visible. Shirring is formed by multiple rows of gathers and is a way to create controlled fullness, like at a waistline, cuffs or a bodice yoke.
Fabric - my own rule of thumb is that I cut double the width of actual fabric needed, as the shirring will reduce it by approximately 1/2. The height measurement remains as it would if you were not shirring the fabric, so just add in normal seam and hemming allowances.
Shirring is sewing with elastic thread in the bobbin of your sewing machine to create a "smocked" appearance on your fabric (it's not actually smocking, though; true smocking is a decorative stitching technique done on pleated fabric...my grandma used to hand-smock dresses for me back in the seventies and eighties).
- bend.
- crimp.
- curl.
- knit.
- tuck.
- co*ckle.
- corrugate.
- crisp.
Ruched details have been an inescapable part of the current fashion season, particularly used in bodycon dresses and skirts. The style's regular involvement in a number of recent runway shows also suggests the trend isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Elastomers or rubber-like materials have been used as an engineering material for nearly 150 years. The term elastomer, which is derived from elastic polymer, is a polymer which has the property of viscoelasticity, with low Young's modulus and high yield strain.
Sew with a stretch stitch or a zigzag stitch, which will stretch along with the elastic. Finish the hem of the garment, if applicable. Mark the seam allowances at the sides of the garment piece. Fold the fabric between the marks into four equal sections.
Zigzag - we've talked about this one already, and used it to create a finished edge on hems and seams, but the zigzag stitch can also be used to sew stretch fabrics. Because of the structure of the stitches, zigzag allows the seam to stretch.
Can you sew knits with regular thread?
Try sewing on knits with a straight stitch using regular polyester thread. Now, pull on it as though you are wearing it. That sound you just heard is the thread breaking and your seam opening. It does this because there is no stretch in the seam or the thread.
Disclaimer: Shirring with elastic thread is not really recommended for high-end machines as it can affect the bobbin area tensions. This is because the elastic is thicker than regular thread. The below tutorial was sewn using a Talent 3223.
- Mark the area you want to ruche. Measure your fabric, then outline the area of the material you're going to ruche.
- Set your ruche lines. ...
- Make your stitches. ...
- Pull your threads. ...
- Pin your ruche in place. ...
- Stitch over the ruche.
Smocking is worked on a crewel embroidery needle in cotton or silk thread and normally requires three times the width of initial material as the finished item will have.
Smocking basically consists of pleated fabric and a fibre (usually a floss) for embellishment stitches. Pleats are created in two ways; A set of dots printed or pressed on the fabric. Dots are then used as a gathering guide to create hand pleats (Figure 9.9).
Traditional wisdom is to use 3 strands of floss for geometric smocking and 4 strands for Picture Smocking. But there is no reward for using just 4 strands! Remember the goal is a lovely filled area of stitches with no base fabric peeking through. If it takes 5 strands or even 6 to get that look, go for it!
Gathering is drawing up fullness into a predetermined size smaller area. The fullness is meant to show, unlike easing where it shouldn't be overly visible. Shirring is formed by multiple rows of gathers and is a way to create controlled fullness, like at a waistline, cuffs or a bodice yoke.
Summary. Smocking is an embroidery technique used to gather fabric so that it can stretch.
Even if your sewing machine has only a small number of decorative stitches you will be able to find suitable ones for machine smocking. Use a stretch stitch to recreate a traditional cable stitch.
The sweet spot is a fabric that pleats easily, and results in full pleats that hold their shape well. I recommend starting with a 100 percent cotton broadcloth, Imperial Broadcloth by Spechler Vogel (65 % cotton, 35% polyester) or poly cotton broadcloth from Fabric Finders.
What is honeycomb smocking?
Smocking is the technique of creating a series of pleats and then stitching these pleats together at certain points in order to create designs. Honeycomb smocking is a type of smocking where the end results give you a beautiful diamond design.
Either a number 7 or 8 Embroidery needle (also known as a Crewel needle) or a number 7 Darner (originally used to darn socks) will give a good result.
I have always been fascinated by smocking done on my girls' dresses and always thought it is too difficult to do. Realistically it is a little bit difficult to do than other embroidery work but the effort is worth it.
