British-Brazilian designer Tessa Silva has used sand and wool to transform pleated fabric into a series of voluptuous vases and stools. Silva's Smock collection was born out of a technique she ...

Smocking is an embroidery technique that was developed in England. It is used for gathering a fabric in such a way that it is able to stretch. In fact, before the invention of elastic, smocking was ...

Says Sarah Collins, professor of fashion at Savannah College of Art and Design, smocking is a way of manipulating fabric into pleats, and can also refer to the art of embroidering on pleated fabric.