Pleating lessons I've learned

Now that I've made several kilts I thought I'd pass on some things I've learned, some from experience some from research. Pleating solid color fabric is easy if you make a cardboard template. The width of the entire template should be the width from the edge of one pleat to the edge of the underside of the next with a line in from the edge equaling the pleat width. For example 5 inches wide total with a line 1 inch in from the edge giving a 1 inch pleat with 4 inches under. On fabric that doesn't hold a pleat well you can edge stitch the pleats, but never edge stitch the underside. Edge stitching the top pleat keeps them sharp but doing that to the inside prevents the pleats from swinging properly. With plaids pleating is easier because you have a pattern in the fabric to follow and can get anywhere from 3 to 9 pleats in each sett, depending on the size of the plaid. It makes things easier if you press each pleat as you go then pin each in place to hold them until you can stitch them down, a row of stitches across the top edge and another across the widest part of the hips. Then remove the pins as you edge stitch each pleat between the horizontal lines of stitches. Pleating is time consuming but done with care is very satisfying and looks very nice. The swing of the pleats in a kilt as you walk is just great and the same applies to kilted skirts and basic pleated skirts.

Reply to
Mike Behrent
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Mike, you can do a pretty good job of sharp-pressing* just about any fabric if you've got a little patience. The keys are getting the fabric hot and moist, and then getting it dry and cool before moving. (*warning: do not hard-press creases in linen -- the fibers break)

If you've got an ironing board with a teflon or aluminized cover, toss the cover. In fact, for big pressing jobs, toss the ironing board and get yourself a half sheet of exterior plywood and a table that will support it, an old wool blanket (or cheap ugly wool or one of the new ($$$) hydrophobic pads, some muslin or old sheet, and a block of wood that's been sanded smooth. A tailor's clapper helps too, but you can use a second block of wood, about the size of a blackboard eraser. Maple is nice for this. No finishes on the wood, please, other than sanding.

Set up your pressing surface. Put a couple of layers of wool down, then the muslin or sheet, and secure it to the work surface. If you're using an ironing board, it should have padding and a muslin or duck cover, not a coated cover.

Test your pressing on scraps first. There are several techniques to get the fabric moist... spraying the area to be pressed with water, using a steam generator iron, using a wet muslin press cloth, dabbing just the crease with water on a sponge or rolled up piece of wool. Most household irons don't produce enough steam to press effectively, so that's why the extra water on the area to be pressed.

However you choose to get the crease or seam moistened, do so. Press (down, not side-to-side ironing) along the crease, giving a several second dwel time before you move the iron. Now pick up the tailor's clapper or the small piece of smooth wood and pound along the crease with the clapper or wood. When you've got the crease thoroughly clapped, lay the bigger board on the pressed area, and let everything cool while you start working on the next area to be pressed. The wood and the wool padding will absorb the residual humidity from the fabric, and when it's cool, you'll have a nice crisp crease that will survive quite a bit of wear. Cotton twill will hold at least the remains of the crease through about 10 or more machine wash and dry cycles.

There are a couple of good videos on pressing out there... one is by Mary Roehr:

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the other by Cecelia Podolak: Material Things60-101 Parkside Drive, Port Moody, BC V3H 4W6 CanadaSells tailoring books, pressing video, cheeseblocks and other pressing tools. Also has a nice selection of patterns for classic tailored garments designed by author/instructor Cecelia Podolak. Write for more information or call 604-469-6953 NAYY to both... except that I've learned a lot from those two. Well worth asking your library to interlibrary loan for you, if nothing else.

Crummy sewing can be successfully camouflaged by good pressing. Poor pressing can make good sewing look mediocre.

Kay Lancaster snipped-for-privacy@fern.com (on one of her favorite hobby horses again)

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Kay Lancaster

Poor

Truer words were never spoken (or written, in this case).

-- Beverly

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BEI Design

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