I am back with the next in our Smocking: The Basics series. Today we are going to discuss fabric selection. Many different fabrics may be smocked, but some are definitely easier than others, so the purpose of today’s post is to give you a sense of where to start. What is the easiest fabric to work with, both from a pleating and smocking perspective? I mention both a pleating and smocking perspective because the two are not the same thing. In general, a loosely woven fabric will be the easiest to pleat, but the resulting pleats may be floppy, difficult to smock, and not give the most pleasing result. The sweet spot is a fabric that pleats easily, and results in full pleats that hold their shape well.