Monday, August 23, 2010

Method of calculating the fabric needed for smocking done by joining two points- "Leaf design"





Measurement of the cushion= 40 cm x 40 cm.
Size of the squares on which smocking is done= 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm
Design= " Leaf design"
Two columns of squares marked with diagonals are worked together while smocking. These form one column of smocked design. These columns are separated by columns of gaps on which smocking is not done.
Two columns of diagonals are separated by one column of gap. These are repeated to get the measurement we need.
 First and last columns should be of columns with diagonals.
So there will be even numbers of smocked columns and gaps will one less.
In the above design square which are marked green are the squares on which smocking is done.
Draw a square of side 2.5 cm and measure its diagonal. If we are accurate it will be 3.535. Let us take 3.5 cm.
After smocking 4 squares of the first column (filled with red stripes) the width will be half of the diagonal that is 1.75 cm.
The length will be equal to the diagonal of the square that is 3.5 cm.
There will be no change in the measurement of gaps
Keeping this calculation as basis we have to find out the number of squares we have to mark in each row and how many rows we need to get the size of cushion we need.

Width

Width of 2 smocked squares + 1 gap = 1.75 cm + 2.5 cm =4.25 cm .By dividing the width of the cushion by 4.25.
40/4.25 = 9.41
We have to repeat the design 9 times 4.25 x 9= 38.25
Last column of smocked squares =1.75 cm
So we need 10 pairs of columns marked with diagonals separated by 9 columns of gaps.
We have to mark 29 squares in each row
Width of these squares after smocking will be
1.75 cm x 10 no’s =17.5 cm
Width of 9 gaps =2.5 cm x 9 =22.5 cm
2.5 cm border added on each side for seams and for wastage while stitching.
2.5 c m x 2 no’s =5 cm
Total =17.50 cm +22.50 cm + 5 c m= 45 cm.

Length


After smocking 2 rows will be equal to the diagonal of the square we are working on.
Length of 2 rows after smocking =3.5 cm
Divide length of the cushion 40 cm by 3.5 cm
40/3.5 cm= 11. We have to repeat these two rows 11 times.
We have to mark 22 rows.
2.5 cm border is added on each side for seams and for wastage while smocking.

Material needed


Width= (2.5 cm x 29) + 5 cm =77.5 cm
Length= (2.5 cm x 22 rows) + 5 cm = 60 cm
In the same way you can calculate the material needed for cushions of different sizes and of different designs .If you change the measurement of the square of the graph calculate the diagonal accordingly and proceed.

Do Canadian smocking by joining two points following the above graph



Photobucket

7 comments:

  1. hi thank u can u share the tutorial of leaf where to start some how like where from start.please watomg 4 ur reply

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  2. In my previous post http://vani-testblog2.blogspot.com/2010/06/canadian-smocking-shell-pattern_24.html I have shown the method of doing Canadian smocking by joining two points.Procedure for leaf design is same but you have to follow the graph that I have given here.

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  3. which material would be suitable for this ?

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  4. Thick satin and velvet can be used.

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  5. You are such an amazing teacher ~

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  6. Hi Vani
    thx for posting how to do this, i appreciate your sharing and generosity .

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  7. Thank you for this! I remember when I was a little girl, my grandmother made pillows using this method. I never knew how to do it! Now I am a grandmother, and I would like to learn. Thank you for showing me how!

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