The Historical Art Of Smocking

Smocking is an embroidery technique developed in England with its history generally believed to extend back to the Middle Ages. The use of the needlework technique was most prominent in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, used before elastic was created to produce stretch and elasticity in garments. Its uses were more practical than decorative in it earliest days when it was primarily seen in clothing worn by field laborers to create garments that were both fitted and flexible. The term for the technique derives from the name of these work shirts with the evenly gathered pleats on the sleeves and body that were called smocks. These were typically made from homespun, linen, or Holland cloth with the embroidery done in linen thread.

Though made by women, the early smocks were worn almost exclusively by men remaining in general use among laborers until the advent of the Industrial Revolution. The heavy weight and fullness of the smock proved to be hazardous for wear around the new mechanical farm machinery causing the smock to be reserved for special occasions.

Smocking became a popular decorative art about the middle of the nineteenth century when smocking was used on upper class ladies' undergarments. Portrait paintings of the day will show decorative smocking on the sleeves and bodice. By the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, boys and girls were wearing fashionable outfits featuring smocking with patterns for smocking and fine embroidery appearing in fashion and pattern magazines. Done by hand, embroiderer's created their own guides with a marking pencil and cardboard until iron-on transfer dots became available in 1880.

The first known appearance of smocking used in United States fashions arrived in about 1920 with descriptions of the technique appearing in fashion and pattern magazines. A popular fashion of the 1920s was the loosely fitting flapper dress with a smocked waist. The popularity of smocked clothing has periodically come in and gone out of fashion since the 1930s. With the introduction of pleating machines to smockers in the 1950s, its use has increased with the basic pleating commonly done now by machine to be hand embroidered.

Today, smocking is experiencing a resurgence in popularity, seen most often in children's clothing and baby garments though also found in adult clothing as well. It is also being creatively used for a variety of applications such as pillows, picture frames, and other home accessories using more imaginative and unconventional stitches and combinations. Smocking has come a long way from its humble roots to today's exciting, contemporary designs.