pleating to pattern

[dee]

Can someone explain in simple terms how the easiest way to pleat to pattern. i just dont seem to be able to do it. i have worked out that after deducted the ends etc ( if pleating not to pattern the spaces would be 18cm ( pleat 18cm)- how do you pleat to pattern. i have turned in the hems and put buckram in. its making me dizzey taking pins in and out i have read merrick and day book but still non the wiser (oviously i need to make sure the finished width is what i need it to be.

[Jules]

Re: pleating to pattern

Hi Dee,

You really need to set out your pleating pattern on paper before you begin to make your curtains. This is the only way you can get your finished curtain the correct width.

You need to know things from the fabric before you begin - ie, how many pattern repeats your fabric has to the width. Often it is 4 (which would give you 4 pleats to a width) but, as I found with my dress curtains in the gallery, I had 5 patterns across one width then, so had to adapt the size of my pleats and spaces to allow for an extra pleat across each width. You also need to decide on how much fabric you want to put into your pleats and how much you can allow for the spaces. The fabric width less the pointy bits leaves the flat part! Sometimes pleating by pattern can be very wasteful as you may need to go into a whole width just to gain an extra single pattern to pleat but it does look very smart. I was hooked when I saw Bev's sample curtain picture.

Have you made the curtains up yet?

[Schuhby]

Re: pleating to pattern

Hi Dee

If pleating by design you have to calculate the pleating before turning the sides in. You'll often find you waste a lot of fabric too. The horizontal repeat is usually in blocks of 4 - If you lay a length of fabric on the table and decide where you want the pleats to fall - 4 blocks of pattern per width, 4 pleats per width usually.. Totally forget the idea that pleat and spaces should be 6 inches, when pleating to pattern the pattern will dictate the pleat and space sizes, the pleat may often be bigger than the space, but try to avoid spaces being bigger than the pleat.

Decide what part of the pattern you want to fall on pleat, and center this in the middle of the pleat section.

Once you have decided where your pleats and spaces will fall, you then calculate the width of fabric required. Hope this makes sense.

Philip

[jane]

Re: pleating to pattern

I'm about to make some triple pleat curtains with some vertically striped (two shades of the same colour) silk fabric. The stripes are 9.75cm wide.
Is it important to pleat to the stripes or will they look good either way?

[Schuhby]

Re: pleating to pattern

In my opinion you should always pleat stripes on purpose - By this I mean by design and don't just leave it to chance. Remember, lay out the fabric, decide on your pleating strategy and then calculate the required fabric - Expect waste!

Jane look at the fabric and work out the horizontal repeat in the fabric and then work out the pleating.

Philip

[dee]

Re: pleating to pattern

there is only two pattern to a width. colour blue and white. is it better just to ignore pleating to pattern as there are only two patterns. (this seems to be so hard)

[Schuhby]

Re: pleating to pattern

Dee if you've already cut and seamed and calculated your pleats, it'll probably be easier to pleat in your normal way.

Next time lay your fabric out and look at your pleating options before joining up.. It's not difficult as such, just takes a little more thought than normal pleating.

Philip

[Jules]

Re: pleating to pattern

I, like Philip, think you should probably make up in your normal way this time round Dee. But, if you ever have a free minute get some of your scraps out and lay them on your table as Philip suggests. You can then look at the fabrics and decide what you'd like to see on each. They will probably all suggest slightly different arrangements.

Take a look as well at Bev's Curtain in the gallery. You can see that the pattern there just cried out to be pleated as she did. It would have been such a pity to have lost all that detail by doing anything else. Yet, the fabric on my table only has one pattern across, so there is nothing to follow. I will simply pleat each width into four, with the pleats and spaces to suit the window. Not everything can be pleated by design.....

Good luck with them Dee and let us know what you decide to do.

Jx.

[Louise]

Re: pleating to pattern

Here's an example of a fabric that should have been pleated to pattern, note how the pattern disappears in places across the curtain where it is hidden in the space rather than on the front of a pleat.....

(I hasten to add this is from a mass-market curtain catalogue....not made by anyone we know)