Several seamstresses have a decorative pillow to keep or give as a gift this year, thanks to the Old Pueblo Pleaters Smocking Guild.
Members of the organization spent their monthly meetings making a pillow, one of the ways the guild offers instruction on the traditional home art of embroidering pleated material.
While used mostly on clothing, smocking can be found on such items as pillowcases, chair seats and lampshades.
Details: About 20 hobbyists are members of the guild. It costs $10 a year to belong to the guild. It meets at 7 p.m. on the first Wednesday of the month for 10 months out of the year at Bernina Sewing Center, 4500 E. Speedway, Suite 39.
Sample meeting topics: Picture smocking, lace shaping, stitching techniques.
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Year's biggest events: Attendance at the state workshop for smocking guilds. This year the group organized the workshop, which includes lessons and meals.
Other fun stuff: A Christmas party, workshops by national teachers, charitable work for University Medical Center's neonatal intensive care unit.
Latest buzz: Creating evening purses by adding beads to smocking techniques.
More information: 797-9250.
Random question: How has smocking, which gives a Victorian feel to home décor, fit in the 21st century? Guild President Mary Jane Brown says a fellow guild member added a small touch of smocking to the top of her sheer curtains. "It wasn't a Victorian or a country look," Brown says, "and her home is fairly modern."
A little bit of smocking adds a homemade, finished look without exuding a particular style, she adds.