honeycomb smocking tutorial

I thought that I would show how I make honeycomb smocking, the technique I used while smocking the leather belt thing.

Start with drawing a net of dots on your fabric, I do the dots directly on the fabric but many makes a paper patterns with squares first, and then uses the corner of the squares to mark out the dots.

my squares are 1*1 cm (0,4 inches), it is a bit small to work with, so if it is your fist try it can be good to start with some larger squares such as 2*2 cm (0,8 inches). With a lot of smocking techniques one usually marks on the back of the fabric, but now we mark on the front.

You need a needle on a thread that is knotted in the end.

Stick the needle up in the first dot.

At the same place, pick up a few millimetres of fabric (just like 3 threads or so).

Go to the dot beside it and pick up some fabric here to.

Pull together.

Sew some stitches and secure the “fold” you just made.

There, now on to the next stage.

Stick the needle down from where it just came from.

And stick it up the dot under it.

Now you are not going to pull the threads together, let it lie loose on the back.

Secure the thread again.

Pick up some fabric, go to the next dot and pick up some fabric there.

Pull together, sew some stitches and secure the thread.

Stick the needle down the hole it came from again.

And stick it up the dot just above it, remember to let the thread on the back lie loose.

Secure the thread.

And continue this way all the way to the end of the row.

This is how it can look when you come to the end.

Stick the needle down the hole it came from, skip one dot and come up the next.

Secure the thread. Remember that all the thread you do not pull together should lay loose on the back.

Pick up some fabric, go to the next dot and pick up some fabric there, pull together, sew some stitches and secure the thread.

Down from where it came from, and then down to the dot directly under it.

Pick up some fabric, go to the next dot and pick up some fabric there, pull together, sew some stitches and secure the thread and move on.

If one keeps going like this, this is how it will look like, and now you hopefully know how to make honeycomb smock.