Alrighty...I'm by no means an expert at this technique, and to be quite honest, this was my first attempt at machine smocking. I'm working my way through my sewing machine's manual, and I thought that this would be a fun technique to try out.
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I'm sure that most of you have seen the beautiful hand smocked dresses. Hand smocking a dress involves pleating a dress, and then hand stitching or embroidering your design onto the gown. Recently I've seen some smocked baby dresses in the stores, and seeing them filled me with a desire to try out a simpler approach to smocking.
Machine smocking a piece of fabric involves gathering the fabric rather than pleating it. Gathering rows are sewn 3/8" apart along the smocked section of the material.
