Another smocked skirt

I have been working on a skirt I promised Brigid last year when her original could be repaired no more. The replacement is the same black featherwale cord, with braid chosen by Brigid from my stash of braid and trim.

The pink and green braid is from Eastern Silk in Adelaide - fabulous silks and trims. This was one of their few non-beaded trims.The other black braid with red roses came from Cleggs in Melbourne.


I wasn't sure they would go together, but Brigid was - and we worked out I'd match the smocking to the zigzag braid.




You smock a cable row and then add the points below and above before finishing off with the lower row of border cable.

The top border of green is added after the skirt is attached to the band.

The pleats sit on the hip and the band goes from waist to hip.

I stitched the black flowered braid on by machine and the pink and green zigzag trim by hand. I couldn't see a way to do it neatly on the machine as the picots needed to sit flat.

I found it very difficult to keep the braids running straight even when pinned.




I used large heart-shaped buttons, one pink, one green to match the thread. The points on the hearts look quite good with the points on the zigzag smocking.I really like this pattern. It is simple and effective, with lots of possibilities for variation.

It is also much liked by the serious wearer!