How to hand-pleat fabric

[gius]

i think it's just her photo that makes the pleats look fine.. the thread she's using is fairly thick. a resulting pleat/ridge might be a little less than 0.5cm in total, with that kind of fabric
i'd like to try to make a really fine one too

so you want to put vertical pleats on a 2 yard long fabric
you can definitely do that but make sure to keep the fabric even on the pole.
like if you were to wrap the second layer of fabric accidentally on the bias, your pleats will change direction and so will the first layer of fabric (it will have a crisscross pattern)

don't need to dye it.
make sure you have very good ventilation (even if you smell nothing.)
you remove the string only after it is bone dry. air dry is best


we met an artist in class, who used a special silk from japan
gunma silk... seemed expensive
it has a natural gum that makes it stiff. and instead of boiling the silk, she just washes it and lets it air dry. it forms the pleats that way too, but it's dry clean only afterwards.
she also invented some way to make it dry faster--
she put the fabric in a sort of box with good air circulation... i can't remember exactly, but it didn't seem complicated.

so, if you want your project easy to care for, while permanent, synthetic is best
i've only tried polyester but not acetate or nylon , others...



--

so through this whole thread daniellat, you were more interested in making a texture that's like pleats?
or were you also interested in making an ordinary pleated skirt permanent?

premierschoolwear.com

 

[daniellat]

i had my doubts about that method too. i dont think the pleats would end up even and straigt. but i just cant get it out of my head now lol

i want it to add texture tot he fabric, these examples in particular

amazon

flickr- oliviarose

 

[gius]

those are pretty maybe you could use that pleating board you posted on the 1st page.. and then steam the fabric. i saw a video of issey miyake doing that with his fabrics

you're right also,-- if you were to layer the fabric on the pole for the 2 yrds, it would gradually get thicker and the pleats would end up bigger
and yes the pleats are uneven.. i guess you could be a little more careful.. using something like chiffon? and a finer thread and moving the threads one by one to make the pleats all the same size

i thought it might look nice though. the unevenness. Especially for dyeing, you get a very nice spontaneous texture

 

[Petit Lucille]

gius, i made this thread in order to find out if there is a way to make a pleated permanent without an industrial machine. given that you can dye a fabric at home with natural vegetables and no chemical product, there could be something natural like potatoe juice or something like that that would make a pleat permanent. if you make that skirt, you would have to iron it after you washed it to keep the pleats in place.
that system you said, with the silk's own natural gum would be a case of what i was searching for.
nevertheless, natural silk is so expensive, i'm sure it's hard to find. so if there are other ways, i'm listening

 

[-Veda-]

Fortuny used (of course the best silk) and held his pleats with a special glue. The ingredients of said glue were elaborated upon (as much as is known anyway) in the book "Fortuny" by Anne-Marie Deschodt as well as his method of hand pleating his wife and assistants would employ. It's been some years since I've read that book, so the info is sketchy - sorry.

 

[gius]

another one who does really fine pleats is Alix Gres
from what i've read she does each fold by hand..

 

[daniellat]

Few years gone by and I still can't find a pleating machine. It seems like the only way is to do it by hand. Apparently, every designer outsource it to Lognon in Paris

vivaladaisy

 

[TONY G®]

If you're still looking for a pleater board, Mr. Pleater makes them in a few different sizes.

Mr. Pleater

 

[Jila]

you can do it by hand if you really need to. it just requires a very hot iron, a sewing gauge (or a non-melting ruler), and lots of time/ patience. if you're using it for something where the wrong side isn't visible, i would fuse it as well.

but if you're going for delicate, soft, and frequent pleats (like in the lucy liu picture), i would just get it professionally done. you don't need to outsource it to a different continent, just find one locally, or wherever the nearest industrial city is located. you'll probably find something. i know there are quite a few here in toronto. some require a minimum yardage (approx. 3 yards), but i know at least one place will pleat even a small chunk of fabric, if thats all you need pleated.

 

[Nymphaea]

^Thanks Jila!
I want to pleat velvets, but so far I haven't found the ideal method for straight pleats. A pleater board doesn't work with velvets unfortunately. I also tried fusible interfacing. Has anyone other ideas or pointers? TIA!

 

[Holmes2020]

Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum and glad to be here.
I don't know if this is the right place to post this, if not please let me know.
I want to share with you this gorgeous scarf made by Balmain.



Unfortunatelly, there isn't much information on this model. Apparently, It was very limited and It got famous because of the BBC show "Sherlock", being him the one to use this example.



As you can see, the center panel has some sort of wrinkled pleats (?) and that is what I really like about it.



Do you have any idea how to achieve this effect on fabric? I know how to pleat fabric, but I'm not sure if it is the right technique to use in this case, because they are wrinkled.

Here is another close up look on an orange example:



Do you have any advice or method that I can use?
I'd love to make a scarf like this, since they're veeery hard to find.

Thank you!