Janny Primrose : How to Hoop and Sew the Smocking Designs

To stitch these designs out, simply hoop sticky back stabilizer, such as Hoop-It-All's Stick-It-All or Hydro Stick, then place the pleated fabric on top of the stabilizer. An iron-on tearaway can also be added to the back of the pleated fabric for extra stability. Further, if your machine has a tacking/basting stitch, you can apply that before you sew out the design. If your machine doesn't have a basting stitch, you could add this to the design in your software before you send the design to your machine. Some software programs have an auto basting stitch function that can be added to any design.

Hoop a piece of sticky back stabilizer such as Stick-It-All or Hydrostick.

Place pleated fabric on top of the hooped stabilizer and sew out the design. Fabric can be pleated on a smocking pleater or sew rows of gathering stitch on the machine. A soft iron-on stabilizer can also be adhered to the back of the pleated fabric for extra stability.