What size needle for smocking?
<< Beth-Katherine, Good Morning! When smocking how do I determine which kind of needle and size I should use? Monique >> As a rule of thumb it depends on the type of fabric you are smocking on. If using a fine batiste I would go with a crewel #10 as the needle is a thin one less likely to damage the fabric. If using broadcloth and other heavier weights then I would go with the Darner #7. * * * Smocking in the Civil War? << Why I ask is that my sister and her husband are muzzleloaders with a Civil War group and I would love to add smocking to her costumes, but it has to have been used during that period of time. Sharon Edwards>> Too cool. I have been somewhat researching this but out here in California it’s difficult getting a hold of southern family photographs, however I do have a customer who is from the south who told me that she saw several family photographs from the pre-Civil War period where the slave children wore gingham counterchange smocking. You will also find lattice smock
