The Sewing Place
The Emporia => In the wardrobe => Technical Help => Topic started by: b15erk on July 14, 2018, 08:52:39 AM
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I love garments with pleats, but I have some kind of mental block with them.
The project I'm having trouble with, is a simple dress for Lilya to use up a small piece of raw silk. The silk is lovely although it frays, and I'm lining it with a fine mesh type of fabric. I'm using both fabrics together for the pleats.
I spent the whole evening last night marking and pinning, and it still wasn't right. :( Undid it all this morning, and tacked the fabric together, and started to mark the pleats out with thread tacks.
Are there any better ways of doing pleats? I seem to make a meal of it every time. I remember doing a Marina Brumpton dress and it took me a whole day to get it right - but the video made it look so easy!
Jessie :S
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Will two layers of fabric stay together as pleats without being fused together? Bondaweb or similar.
I haven't done much pleating, but it definitely helps if you get the fabric exactly on grain. Time and patience are the other requirements.
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I think that's the thing Brenda. I've been rushing to catch up with all the Christening sewing after the turmoil of the last week or so, and I went for the pin and sew option..... it didn't look good.
The lining I'm using is lovely, a very fine mesh, so very little bulk, and it's staying together nicely up to now.
I wish I could just get over this thing about making pleats more difficult than they are. :S
Jessie
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Jessie it always seems to be the simplest technique that I have a mental block with. :devil: why is that? Makes you feel so stupid.
Would it work better if you used different colour thread for marking the fold lines and placement lines? I don't do a lot of pleating, not a good look on short overweight people. :D. But I do have to think about it when I do.
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OSS, I love pleats (on the children -not me!), but I always have to spend a lot of time on them.
I've started to thread trace, and that may be the best option, especially as I'm using two fabrics together. Should have done it from the start...
Hoping to crack on when I get home from work, I've got loads to do!
Jessie
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Make a mini 'pleating board' from heavy paper. Mark the pleats, fold it like a concertina/fan, and press it utterly flat. THen lay your fabric on top, matching up your markings, and pleat the whole caboodle together. Press again with the paper still between the pleats. Let it cool, then slide the paper out, and stitch/baste them down
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Make a mini 'pleating board' from heavy paper. Mark the pleats, fold it like a concertina/fan, and press it utterly flat. THen lay your fabric on top, matching up your markings, and pleat the whole caboodle together. Press again with the paper still between the pleats. Let it cool, then slide the paper out, and stitch/baste them down
That is such a cool idea. I have to try it soon.
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I do pleats a very "cheap and nasty" way ..... well at least some times. In particular, I do this when the pleat is two folds meeting in the middle. For some reason, I just struggle with having those two folds staying together, without either overlapping slightly, or leaving a tiny little gap.
So, pick the point where the pleat is supposed to be centred. Along that line, fold the fabric, right sides together. Measure out the width of the pleat, and then sew down from the fabric edge for about 2-3inches, with a basting stitch. On the back, press the pleat flat (either with an even amount both sides, or all to one side depending on the pattern) and then baste along the fabric edge to anchor the pleat. Continue with the construction process (ie: attach the waistband/bodice). Once the seam is finished and therefore the pleat is anchored, very carefully remove the basting stitches holding the pleat closed. Press again to set the crease ..... and voila .... one (or more) perfectly presentable pleats.
I appreciate this is not the accepted method of sewing pleats. Still, for me it works.
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@datcat23 I thought that was the proper way to make pleats? I don't often do it, but when I do, that's my method.
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That's how I do it, too @datcat23 . I have read about people slipping that fusible thread stuff between the pleats and pressing them flat (sticks 'em together until you wash the garment) but I've never been able to get along with that stuff, way too fiddly for me.