How to Smock Ornaments

Smocked ornaments are a lovely home accent, excellent practice piece and a beautiful holiday gift. Smocking, or hand embroidery on pleated fabric, is often used for heirloom garments but can also be used for home accents. Smocking ornaments is quite quick if you are an experienced smocker, or it can be a great way to learn this craft. Depending upon the size of your fabric panel and ball, you can make large or small smocked ornaments and choose elaborate smocking designs or simple geometric patterns.

Things You'll Need

• Pleater or smocking dots
• Contrasting quilting thread
• Cotton broadcloth fabric
• Embroidery floss
• Embroidery needle
• Silk ribbons or beads, if desired
• Coordinating polyester thread
• Ribbon for hanging
• 2-inch Styrofoam ball

Instructions

1. Tear or cut a 7-inch-by-44-inch strip of fabric. Press under a doubled 1/4-inch hem along each long edge and stitch by hand or sewing machine with polyester sewing thread. Pleat nine rows using a smocking pleater or iron on smocking dots. Pleat rows two through eight with contrast colored thread as you typically would; however, use a strand of contrasting thread and one strand to match your background fabric when pleating rows one and nine.

2. Pull the pleating threads snug. Gather your pleated fabric until it fits comfortably around the Styrofoam ball.

3. Smock seven rows in the pattern of your choosing, using three strands of embroidery floss. Do not tie off your floss ends, as these will be used to create a continuous pattern when you seam the smocked panel around the Styrofoam ball. Embellish your smocking with silk ribbon embroidery or beads, if desired.

4. Remove the pleating threads from rows two to eight. Leave the matching thread in place on rows one and nine to aid in construction.

5. Rethread each floss end and join it to the beginning stitch of the row, working in pattern. Leave this stitch quite loose, bringing the smocking thread to the back of the smocked ornament. Repeat for each row.

6. Turn the ornament inside out. Pull each final stitch snug and tie off the embroidery floss ends.

7. Place the Styrofoam ball into the smocked ornament tube. Pull the threads on pleating rows one and nine snug to fit the ball. Tie each end with ribbon, adding a ribbon loop for hanging.

Tips & Warnings

• Make larger or smaller ornaments by adjusting measurements accordingly.

References

• MaggieBSmocks.typepad.com Smocked Ornaments
• Everythingsewing.net Smock Ornaments
• Smocking.org Smocking 101