Fun in my sewing studio today ...

Today I enjoyed a spontaneous day in my sewing studio, making a beautiful smocked hanger.

If you haven't done smocking on an Embroidery Machine before there are a few tricks that you need to know.

I began the entire process by taking 2 1/2 meters of batiste, and cutting it in half down the length.  Setting aside one length to use for the lining and back piece, I took the remaining length and pressed it before rolling it onto my rod ready to be pleated.

It does take a while to load the pleater with thread.  I used Polyester construction thread today, because the batiste is such a light floaty fabric, but if you were using something heavier, I'd switch to waxed quilting thread.

I pleated the center of the entire length.  Here's a tip, tie a knot in the one end of the pleating threads to prevent the pleated fabric from pulling right off the threads.

Next I prepared the pleated fabric by straightening the pleats and spreading them evenly.  I find that a wide tooth hair comb can help when doing this.  If you are very picky you can pin a measuring tape to your iron board and actually count how many pleats are in every inch ... but I'm not that picky for something like this.

Iron a batiste interfacing to one side (the wrong side) of the pleated fabric.  This stabilizes the pleated fabric ready for machine embroidery.  Press really well in the section that will be smocked, and a little less heavily towards the edge that will be fluted to form the delicate trim to the hanger.

Choose an embroidery design, make one yourself, whatever.  I used a lovely design from Janny Primrose - Smocking Heirlooms #1 (we sell this at my shop), which required two hoopings.

Now go ahead and embroider the pleated fabric.  I don't use a topper when I do this, but naturally you will need a stabilizer in the hoop.  The reason I don't use a topper is that I want my thread to wrap around the pleated fabric.

Meantime I drafted a quick pattern off the shape of my pre-padded hanger.  Just a simple shape is fine.  You need one front (the smocked piece), one back, with a straight edge and two lining pieces with straight edges.

Hem the three straight edges with a tiny turn up hem and a zig zag set to say 1.5mm long and 1.5mm wide.

Join the front and back at the sides, and the same with the lining pieced.  Slip the lining piece and outer piece together and sew across the top leaving a small gap along the top edge for the hanger's hook.

The tricky part is deciding how to finish off the front piece.  I carefully pealed back the excess interfacing and trimmed it back to the embroidered stitches.  This released the fabric to fall into tiny pleats.  Then I carefully stitched a 5/8" wide edging lace to the bottom edge, first with a small zig zag stitch (1.5mm wide and long) and then with a wing needle and a pin stitch.

The finishing touch was to hand sew on some beads, which had the bonus of holding the layers together!