Smocking a Shepherd's Shirt- Part 1

My mom has always had a love of English smocking. I've never quite understood it, but she has always loved it. A hundred million years ago, she gave me some unfinished embroidery projects of hers to finish. I completed her Vogue ornaments and stockings with the intention of doing her smocked Christmas balls this year. I made some effort, reading her smocking books and her Christmas ornament instructions, but try as I might I can't seem to muster up the energy to smock some balls for her. 

Instead, I've decided to embark on a crazier journey... I've decided to make a smocked frock. Well, technically, not a smocked frock because that's a pretty long garment. Instead I want to make a smocked shirt a la English peasant of the shire. Since this is such a strange leap to make, let me explain. I like the idea of making a long sleeve shirt with just rectangles. I like the shaping coming from the smocking and the idea of the reversible nature of the design. Well, the front and back are interchangeable. I'm not sure that's what most people would call reversible. At any rate, I saw some beautiful smocked examples, specifically the Whangārei Museum's smocks, and am intrigued. I'm also pretty sure I'm a little strange in the noggin for wanting to do this. 

Inspiration

I got the idea for this from a website called, Girls Own Store or maybe it's called Home of Cottage Socks. Anyway, they posted a blog on making a shepherd's smock and it intrigued me... They talked about their process and included their reference material which is a 26-page booklet written by Alice Armes in 1926. It's a fascinating (and confusing) read! They ended their post with the following injunction- So release your inner peasant, go makee [sic] yourself a shepherd’s smock. So here I am embarking on my own inner peasant journey!!

Process

The first step was reading both documents a couple of times. I definitely felt a bit confused by the way the instructions were given and by the absence of some information. As a language teacher, I definitely delighted in how different the language in the text is from my modern-day American English. As a learner, I was dismayed by the way the information was given and some of the judgy language in the text. 

Here are some gems!

"The length required from neck to hem was taken and three times this length of material was required. It was then folded into three equal lengths, two of which formed the back and front of the smock; the third piece was again folded into three, two pieces for the sleeves and the third piece made the collar, gussets and shoulder straps. In diagram No. 1 the squares and oblongs for the smock are shown when cut out."

"The introduction of various embroidery stitches on modern smocks far from improving their appearance has produced work lacking the richness and charm of the older specimens, just as the introduction of curves in the cut has detracted from the beauty which in the original smocks came from their valuable straight lines." I think Alice Armes would be dismayed to learn I want to put a woven picot or two on my shirt!!

In the end I decided the only way I was going to know how to make a smock was by doing it.