Pinch pleat drapes

039Here’s a tutorial on pinch pleat drapes. Pinch pleats are little triple pleats of fabric at the top of the curtain. They look trickier than they are. Although they can be done by hand, using pinch pleat header tape and pleater hooks is a great way to make it foolproof.

My sewing room serves multiple purposes, including home office and storage space for my husband’s extensive record collection. It’s the one room that we’ve never bothered painting or fixing up (other than having shelves built in). I figured that even though my allocated sewing space is tiny, I could still try to spruce it up. This mini-makeover encompasses several blog posts here. Please check out these other posts:
Sewing Machine Cover

Covered cork trivet

Easy Curtain Tie-Backs

 

 

 

Supplies

Bambina Canary
Bambina Canary
Basic Drapery Lining
Basic Drapery Lining
Pinch pleat tape
Pinch pleat tape
Pleater hooks
Pleater hooks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pattern

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There are lots of ways to make curtains, and therefore lots of ways to measure and cut them.

One of the things to keep in mind is how many widths of fabric you’ll need. For instance, my window is narrow and I made two panels each using one width of fabric (about 54″ wide). but if you want more fullness or if you have a wider window, you’ll need to sew together more than one width of fabric. In addition to this, you’ll want to match the patterns, so you’ll need extra length to allow you some leeway to slide the additional panel up and down until the patterns match. Also keep in mind whether the pattern on your fabric requires consistency from one panel to the other (as in these chevron curtains, which needed to line up). If that’s the case, you’ll need to add extra length so your panels can be cut to match.

I think I’ll need to write up a more complex post about yardage options and fabric repeats (in the next couple of weeks), but for the sake of simplicity in this post, I am using one fabric width for each panel (also feel free to check out this post on the chevron curtains and these posts (duvet and tablecloth) on matching fabric panels).

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I first put up my curtain rod so I’d know exactly how far I was measuring up. I then measured from there to where I wanted the bottom of the curtain to be. This number was 67″. Since the hardware I was using meant the top of my curtain would rise just a bit above my curtain rod, I added 2″ more for 69″. I then added 8″ for a bottom hem and 1″ for the top, leaving me with 78″.

For the lining, I first cut it 3″ narrower than the width of the curtain. For the length, you will want it to be shorter. I did a very wide 8″ (4″+4″) hem on the curtains, and you can do that on the lining if you want, but I instead did a small 2″ hem (1″+1″). So I subtracted the 8″ hem of the curtain and also 2″ more since I want the lining to hang shorter but I also need 2″ for the lining hem, so all of that comes out to a difference of 8″ at the bottom. As for the top, I serged the top edge of the curtain and pressed it over 1″. On the lining, I simply serged the top edge. I started the top of the lining 3.5″ from that folded edge at the top of the curtain. So at the top, I have a difference of 4.5″.

Are you still with me? I know this is a bit confusing. I have a total difference in length of 12.5″ between curtain and lining. So my lining was 3″ narrower and 12.5″ shorter than my curtain.

Phew. Before you cut anything, read through the whole post to make sure you understand how things work! Then it will make more sense.

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The process

009First, mark the placement of your curtain rod. This might range from 4″-6″ from the side and 3″-6″ from the top, although it can really vary depending on the size of your window and the heaviness of the drapes and rod. I set mine 4″ out and 3″ up. I wouldn’t even have minded them being a bit further out to the side, in hindsight.

010Drill a hole. If you’re installing on drywall instead of a stud, use the anchors that likely will come with the rod. Press it into the hole you drilled.

011Screw the bracket into the anchor and install the rod.

013As for your curtains, lay the fabric out smooth on the floor. Fold it in half with selvages running down either side and cut the two panels.

NOTE: if you are matching a pattern from one panel to the next, don’t just cut in half. Cut the first panel to length. The second panel will be longer now, but this extra will give you some room to slide the pattern up and down until it matches the other one. Then you’ll cut it to size.

015Cut your lining pieces to the dimensions you determined before. Remember, it will be narrower and shorter than your curtain.

017Once your curtain and lining panels are cut, it’s time to hem them. For the lining, turn up the bottom edge one inch and press. Then turn up another inch and press again. Stitch close to the pressed up edge.

For all of the curtain and lining panels, serge or zigzag the top edge.

018Turn up the curtain bottom 4″ and press.

019Turn up another 4″ and press again. Pin in place.

020Stitch into place. (Another option is to blind stitch.)

021On the curtain panel, turn under the top, serged edge 1″ and press. For the lining panels, you’ll just leave the serged edge alone.

022Once all of your panels are hemmed, lay out one curtain with the right side up.

023Lay a lining piece on top of it, right-side down (so right sides are facing each other). You’ll align the right edges of curtain and lining and pin, having the hem of the lining 2″ above the hem of the curtain.

026Also pin to secure the other side and the top. Note that the left sides won’t match up.

027Stitch the right side seam. Then pull the lining over and line up the left edges. Stitch the left seam. Now the right side will be pulling funny. That’s OK.

030Turn the curtain right-side out. You’ll see that the curtain turns in a little on either side when viewed from the back.

031Center the lining so that you have the same amount of curtain turned over on either side. Pin to secure. Also fold under the raw edges at the top and bottom to secure.

032Remove pins as you press the side seams. If your fabric creases well, you can simply press the sides and be done with that part. If it doesn’t, you might want to stitch in the ditch where the lining and curtain meet to secure it and make it more crisp.

033Now all that’s left is the top. You have a gap between the top edge of the curtain and the top edge of the lining. (You can opt to have your lining extend to the top of the curtain, but depending on how you’re hanging your curtains, i.e. pinch pleat, grommet, etc., you may want to reduce bulk.) You’ll cover each of those serged edges with the drapery header, in this case pinch pleat tape. Pinch pleat tape has little channels that you can slide the pleater hooks into. Make sure you have the openings of the channels exposed on the front side and at the bottom of the tape.

035Stitch along the very edges of the pleat tape. I stitched up the short side, down the long side and down the other short side. But to avoid having the bulk of the curtain on the right side of the needle, I tied off the thread and started back at the top and went down the left side of the tape.

036Now it’s time to insert the pleater hooks. They come with side hooks for the very edges. Then you take the pleater hooks, which have four prongs, and insert them into every other channel on the tape. So one four-pronged hook actually covers eight channels. Then skip 4-5 channels and do the next one. A good rule of thumb is 5″ pleats and 4″ spaces between, though you can vary this as you desire. I started on the outsides and worked inwards, switching from one side to the next. When I got to the center, I had one extra channel between my pleats.

037Press the pleater hook up into the channels.

039You might need to mess with the pleats a bit to make them pretty on the outside.

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