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picture smocking

    Free Smocking Plate: Posy of Pansies

    Posted by on Feb 26 2013

    Even though February only has 28 days, sometimes it feels the longest. Still too cold to work outdoors but not quite cold enough for winter pursuits, the snow looks grungy, everybody’s got cabin fever and it feels like the warm weather will never come again. The one thing that always cheers me up are the […]

    Blank Smocking Graphs

    Posted by on Jan 08 2013

    I know I often offer free smocking plates for folks to enjoy and share.  But recently, a member on the Martha Pullen sewing forum asked where she might find blank smocking graphs so she could chart her own plates. When I offered to send her some via email, I didn’t expect to get a dozen […]

    Free Smocking Plate: On the Farm

    Posted by on Aug 17 2012

    It’s that time of year – the summer is winding down, the evenings are cooler and thoughts are turning to fall and the start of a new school year. For me, fall is also the time when we take in our local fair.  It’s an annual tradition for us – the boys, big and small, […]

    Free Smocking Plate: Pirate Adventures

    Posted by on May 06 2012

    Poor boys.  They never get their fair share of the creativity, do they?  Girls get the dresses and the ribbons and all the pretties.  Boys end up with the snips and snails. But since it’s been ages since I posted a freebie here on the blog, I thought folks with little boys would enjoy this […]

    Free Smocking Plate: Holiday Nutcracker

    Posted by on Nov 16 2011

    Boy smocking is always a challenge, especially when it comes to the holidays. The rules are as follows: nothing too ‘old fashioned’ ; nothing too ‘cutesy’ ; nothing too ‘fey’. Hopefully, this nutcracker soldier offers you a way to incorporate smocking into your holiday sewing without sentencing your little one to years of intensive therapy […]