The technique is the manipulation of cloth into forms through sewing and gathering.

Smocking is to sew cloth together at regular intervals on a grid to create repeated patterns.

as seen in the examples above, first a square grid is drawn onto the back of the cloth, followed by the diagonal patterns that guide me to connect the 2 points connected by the diagonal lines, to create the pattern. The points are connected by sewing them together.

Above is the first pattern i tried successfully, it is a sort of zigzagging triangular pattern.

Above is the second pattern i tried, it looks like a set of interlocking bowties.

My opinion is that smocking is a very tedious technique, because there are so many points to connect, just to create a small section of pattern. Also certain cloths that are too thick or stiff are not suitable for smocking, as i learnt from my own experience using a thicker cloth which didnt make a pattern.

Next technique is shirring or ‘dumpling making’

first, cloth is cut into circular pieces. Then using a needle and thread, the needle is threaded in an alternating fashion along the edge of the circular piece. Then the string is tightened which creates the folds in the cloth and it looks like a chinese dumpling.

I joined 2 dumplings together by hiding the sewing within the back surfaces that are touching each other, to create each earring.

After that I took it a step further and decided to make earrings and a necklace from the dumplings that were made. This technique is fun and the dumpling shape is very cute.