Smock It To Me, Smock It To Me, Smock It To Me

People are fascinated when they see our smocked baby clothes and even more fascinated when they watch mom smocking on a project.  Beautiful DMC threads, two at a time, taking quick, continuous tiny stitches and the pattern grows.

We do not create the pleats by hand, thank goodness.  Well, we do.  The hand turns the crank and guides the fabric on our magical Amanda Jane pleater, which we purchased from a company in Australia.  Australia, come to find out, is HUGE into smocked, traditional clothing for girls AND boys.  (Insert big sigh right here).  I wish more people in our own US of A were.  There is such a small time in life when babies are babies and there is nothing more precious than a little boy in a smocked jon-jon.  I know.  My little boys wore jon-jons and the pictures in the scrapbook are adorable!  But I digress.

Smocking began in England in the 13th or 14th century.  Linen fabric was gathered into pleats and then secured with embroidery stitches.  Clothing was smocked on the yoke and sleeves, creating an elastic band! (Who thought of this?)   With the use of machinery, the loose garments became impractical and dangerous to wear around moving parts, so smocking died out.

In the early 20th century, smocking began to decorate garments for women and children, which was both popular and fashionable.  But the two World Wars brought availability of cheaper mass produced clothing, rather than the labor-intensive hand-smocked clothes.  And it became less prevalent.

And then!  On to 2009 when Just Baby Gifts & Apparel set up shop and started making smocked clothing again!  We love making bishop dresses for the smaller set - newborn to one year.  The smocked bodice dresses are for 12-36 months.  And they often have ties on the side to make a big bow in the back, just like Mom used to make for me!  Each smocked outfit is unique.  Mom just waits for the fabric to talk to her and then she lets the pattern flow, like magic! 

Here's a beauty that she just finished for the holidays.  It's actually red, not orange (fire the photographer!)  Check out our shop at http://www.justbaby.us/ to see our current collection of smocked baby clothes.  But hurry because there's only one of each.

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