My first sample was merc cotton with a center stripe of bambu, I tried cotton weft in plain and huck and zephyr weft in plain and huck. The zephyr and cotton huck created a smocking effect but overall the bambu center did not shrink enough to generate ruffles. Off to raid my stash of wools to start another experiment. Here is a picture prior to wet finishing, the washed result was not too different.
