For centuries women have used cloth as a tool of comfort and as an expression of beauty within their homes. Creating cloth for warmth, cloth for shelter, our female predecessors embellished these linens with hand stitch using laborious and time consuming techniques thereby enhancing the functional beauty of objects which enveloped and protected their families. Inspired by these women I hope my creations pay tribute to and recognise the devotion expressed in cloth by our female ancestors .







''the use of traditional often time consuming process alludes to the devotion of a mother''. c K. A. Ruane 2007







Friday, November 21, 2025

A table full of plans.

 

The Friday 'to do' list.

Prep silk dupion for smocking.

Press silk velvet for embellishments on smocked piece. 

Add embroidered trim to latest embroidered sample panel.

Play with cut outs for this project.

Next up.....marking out smocking dots. 

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember doing smocking on silk years ago with you and loving it

Liza said...

Not sure how I mangled to make myself anonymous but I did love. The smocking 😊

Jill Dian said...

I love hand smocking too. I also own a Princess Pleater which I used for creating five very colourful 'smocked 10 foot hangings' I made for The Menier Gallery in London many moons ago. Great fun to use.

Karen said...

I have one of those too!

Linda at Texas Quilt Gal said...

What fun to see a page out of a gem of a book my husband gifted me decades ago! I just thanked him again for it; he had forgotten all about it.
Although I rarely comment - a silent fan I guess - I love seeing what you've created and look forward to your posts. I took an online class from you years ago and still remember how I loved your voice on the videos.

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Smocking is something I have on my to-learn list so perhaps seeing your work will inspire me on that front too.