Canadian Smocking...and Writing

Canadian Smocking



Does the mention of smocking bring to mind the complicated stitches and pleats that look so beautiful when finished? How about the other equipment: ‘plates’, pleating tool, and various other things needed in English Smocking?

Not for me. Much as I admired the skill this is one needle and thread activity I didn’t attempt. Then I stumbled on a video on YouTube on Canadian Smocking. WOW! This wasn’t new! According to sources, this was a popular art along the time I was in college so I would have been focused on studies…and um…the male population. Not another needle craft.

Texture...aka Character

The video I found was by a British TV presenter, Debbie Shore. With fabric, a ruler, marking pen, needle and thread, you can create a beautiful pillow or other project. I was fascinated. Think…distraction activity…as mentioned in another post. But how does Canadian Smocking relate to writing except to take you away from your work?

Design...aka Plot

With a few tools you can draw a grid [or use gingham fabric] and create a pillow. Same as in writing when you start with an idea or premise and create a story. Also your project is simple as in KISS…keep it simple, says the experts. Keep your goal in focus.

Wrong side...aka...inner journey

And here’s another fact that caught my attention. Many of the designs are as beautiful on the inside as on the outside. Are you thinking story goal and inner journey? Look at this perfectly plain piece of gingham. Add a few stitches and you have these flowers on the backside. With a few pearls sewn in the center, or using Satin fabric, the flower is beautiful. And on the front side…simple red and white checks become dramatic. Makes me think of Christmas and peppermint candy, and gives us another reminder that characters should always change.

Right side...aka...story goal

One of my favorite designs was on a video by a Brazilian TV presenter. The guest on multiple shows was the same talented artist.  I don’t speak the language but after watching the British TV host multiple times I was able to mute the sound and pick up the design by watching. This too relates to our writing. Our stories should have a Universal Theme…a message that reaches across language barriers.

Canadian Smocking can add texture and design to an ordinary piece of fabric. Let your story turn ordinary characters into people we want to spend time with and get to know.

Do you remember seeing pillows made by Canadian Smocking or North American Smocking as some sources label it?





Beautiful Things from Scraps

Log Cabin Variation Baby's Quilt

Writing is one of those creative endeavors that requires material from many different sources. We don’t just sit down and write with no experience from which we draw our stories. From people watching to research, we build information we have gathered into a whole story.

When I’m at a loss and my creative muses have bowed out for whatever reason, I’m inclined to turn to other creative efforts. Gardening is top of my list when the weather is warm, sunny and dry. Since I no longer have a garden, I dig around in pots and tubs on my balcony. This past weekend, that is how I spent the better part of Saturday morning, instead of working on my novel in progress, This Can't Be Love.

Welsh Pennsylvania Square from Scraps 

While potting around, I had time to think and breathe in the good earthy smells and let my thoughts wander freely. In the process, an idea bloomed for my monthly contribution to Classic and Cozy. I admire my fellow bloggers here who contribute and always come up with something worth reading and drawing others attention to.

I sometimes think of gardening and other forms of distraction as part of my attention deficit or displacement activities. Yet, they have a creative purpose all their own. When the mood strikes me or I have a good reason, one of my favorite activities is making quilts. This was a favorite pastime of my mother as well. In fact, sewing of any kind is a passion we both shared.

Attic Window from Found Fabric

I wasn’t always interested in quilts. My first love was dressmaking, but I went to an exhibition of Welsh quilts in Llanidloes, about ten years ago, put together by Jen Jones, another American living in Wales. A few years before, I had been to the American quilt exhibit at the American Museum in Bath, England.

Having a close friend, Sue Mordan, who is a talented quilt-maker, also encouraged my interest and I began with small projects such as wall hangings, pillow covers and table runners. I was also intrigued by the influence of Welsh quilting tradition on the Amish in Pennsylvania. Though the Amish quilts have gained international acclaim, their simple solid color quilt designs are based on traditional Welsh, multi-colored design patterns, as the book Making Welsh Quilts, explains.

Every quilt requires imagination, planning, design, choices. The process frees my head for other things. A form of daydreaming, the same sort of freedom that allows all thinkers to come up with theories and stories that may change the world.  For me, it seems a good exercise to prepare for writing a novel.

Making Design Decisions

© 2014 Leigh Verrill-Rhys

All photographs (except Making Welsh Quilts bookcover) © 2014 Leigh Verrill-Rhys