Freezer paper can be a magic tool in the sewing room.  It can be used for templates, it can be temporarily ironed onto fabric as a stabilizer, and it leaves no residue behind.

For smocking construction, this feature can really help to keep all your pleats in place after blocking.  There is no shifting or distortion of your carefully stitched design.  And bishop necklines won’t stretch out of shape.

I know in my experience, I have always fought against the mechanics of the sewing machine.

You block your pleats into perfect position.  All your trellis waves are the same size, your center matches perfectly.

However, pleats slide freely along the pleating thread.   Then you try to stitch them onto a solid piece of fabric such as a yoke or bias band and the interesting part begins.

Now you are fighting dual forces.  The feed dogs are grabbing your project from underneath and pulling them toward the needle.  BUT, the pressure of the presser foot is squeezing and pushing in the opposite direction.  All those pleats are now being squeezed and distorted and your carefully blocked piece is not the same.

Plus, every machine is different and some are worse than others.

What to do?  After you have blocked and steamed the pleats and they are dry, grab the magic paper.

Here I’m using an example from my bishop patterns.  The same principles will apply to any blocking guide you are using.

Using the Blocking Guide and freezer paper, make the template.  Trace the outline of the Neck shape and mark the Center Back, Center Front, and Sleeve seams. Trace on the dull side of the paper.
Cut out the Neckline as shown in the photo below. This will make stitching easier.
Trim the excess paper away, approximately 3” away from the Neckline, as shown below. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s only to reduce some of the paper and make stitching the Neck seam line easier.

Cover the Blocking Guide with some tracing paper to prevent any ink transfer and place the Bishop back on the Blocking Guide, wrong side up.
Match Neckline, Center Fronts, and all seam lines. Pin into place along the outer row of the smocking. Place additional pins along the very edge of the Neckline.
Place the freezer paper template on top of the Bishop, shiny side down.  Matching the Neckline, Center Fronts and seam lines.
Press the freezer paper onto the pleats with a dry iron. Only use a light touch, do not crush the pleats. The shiny side will stick to the pleats, holding them in place. It won’t leave a residue and will keep the pleats in place as the Neckline is stitched.

 

Remove all the pins and remove the Bishop from the Blocking Guide.  Flip the Bishop over so that the right side is up and you can see that everything will stay in place as shown in the photo below.

 

Stitch a guideline around the Neck, 3/8” from the raw edge, with the freezer paper underneath the Bishop. Try to keep a consistent distance from the top smocking row. This will be the stitching guide for the Bias Band.
Check the stitching to make sure it is parallel to the first smocking row and correct any wobbly stitches at this point.

As you can see, all the pleats stayed where I put them.  Now, stitch another row 1/4” away from the first stitching line within the seam allowance. This makes it easy to trim down to a 1/4″ seam allowance and create an even bias band.  Carefully remove the paper from the back.
Trim away the excess fabric along this second stitching line. DO NOT trim along the first stitching line.  Don’t worry if the pleats look messy after this stitching, they will straighten out once the excess seam allowance is trimmed away.

Now you can attach the bias band by following the guideline you stitched above.  The result is beautifully stitched and spaced pleats.

 

The same steps can also be applied to a yoke dress.  Instead of marking Center Fronts and Sleeve seams, just mark the Center Front and then divide into quarters and eights across.  Then divide the smocking design the same way and match it to the freezer paper.