Of course there are several other smocking stitches that we will cover in future issues, but for this issue I wish to concentrate on creating a smocking pattern of your own. First of all you must desice if your design will be for a straight yoke or be shaped into a curved designs like a collar or bishop dress. The planning of a design starts with your top row. We have already discussed the importance of keeping your pleats standing upright for ease in sewing them so your top row or the holding row should be smocked with the outline stitch. On a smocked insert usually your first and last rows, are identical with a cable stitch or combination stitch with a cable - like three cable flowerettes above and below the cable row in a contrasting colour for effect, like a grass green row and salmon pink flowerettes.
Colors also make up the design.
If you are smocking on calico I find it best to pick up the colors I want to pull out of the fabric's design - for ex. If there is rose flowers on a blue background I look carefully at those flowers to see if they are shaded in their colors and match those colors with floss. Also look to see if white is within the colors. Sometimes going two shades darker than the background fabric is a nice way to start your design. The rest of the design can be filled in with wave and cable combinations stacked on top of each other to create diamonds, or waves and trellis' can be made up into a grid upon which you embroider flowers.