Smocking
≈ 2 min read
Names in other languages
No names in other languages are held for this entry yet.
Article bodies are English and are not machine-translated. A name in another language is not a translation of the article.
Smocking is an embroidery technique used to gather fabric so that it can stretch. Before elastic, smocking was commonly used in cuffs, bodices, and necklines in garments where buttons were undesirable. Smocking developed in England and has been practised since the Middle Ages and is unusual among embroidery methods in that it was often worn by labourers. Other major embroidery styles are purely decorative and represented status symbols. Smocking was practical for garments to be both form fitting and flexible, hence its name derives from smock — an agricultural labourer's work shirt. Smocking was used most extensively in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Smocking is an embroidery technique used to gather fabric so that it can stretch. Before elastic, smocking was commonly used in cuffs, bodices, and necklines in garments where buttons were undesirable. Smocking developed in England and has been practised since the Middle Ages and is unusual among embroidery methods in that it was often worn by labourers. Other major embroidery styles are purely decorative and represented status symbols. Smocking was practical for garments to be both form fitting and flexible, hence its name derives from smock — an agricultural labourer's work shirt. Smocking was used most extensively in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. ==Organizations== Smocking organizations and groups include the Smocking Arts Guild of America (SAGA), the Smocking Arts Guild of NSW, and the Embroiderers' Guild of America. The V and A East Storehouse in London has many examples of smocking that can be viewed upon request. ==See also== Smock-frock ===Bibliography=== The Reader's Digest Association, Complete Guide to Embroidery Stitches, Pleasantville, New York: Marabout, 2004. Ed. Cecilia K. Toth, Good Housekeeping: The Illustrated Book of Needlecrafts, New York: Hearst Books, 1994. ==External links== Smocking Arts Guild of America Smocking Arts Guild of NSW The History of Smocking Examples of historic smocks Glossary of Smocking Terms
Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369910081 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.