Always Be sure that the needle is held straight /horizontally – parallel into the stitches and perpendicular towards the pleats and valleys. Preshrunk/ prewash the fabric right before smocking. It can be real that unwashed material looks most effective when smocked but shrinking of material is really a possibility. So https://rubber-covered-yarn12221.bloguetechno.com/covered-spandex-yarn-fundamentals-explained-67014092