Emergency smocking

Emergency smocking?
It all came about because I left my coat at home for a 3 day trip. I had packed a warm top for the drive (no heating), but it wasn't anything I wanted to be seen in outside of the vehicle. For some reason I had packed a shirt that the other half had recently discarded and I thought I liked the colour (turns out the shade is more sand than mustard..pity) so that could add some layering over my thin cardigan. Said shirt however was an XL in a mid-weight fabric. Incredibly unflattering (and I usually like men's shirts). One of my stops in Sydney (while D. was speaking at a conference) was Tapestry craft, to get some larger needles to hopefully solve my gauge swatch knitting problems, and whilst there I grabbed some rusty coloured wool, thread and cross stitch needles.

That evening in a hotel in Melbourne (whilst D. spoke at a school in Melton) I decided to solve my baggy shirt problems with some smocking and cross stitch.

The last time I did any smocking I was at high-school, so I thought I would 'google' smocking stitches. Alas the wifi in the hotel failed me and I had to rely on memory alone. This is the only stitch I could remember.

running stitches for the pleats

all gathered up

first few stitches

gathering stitches pulled out