How To Make Perfect Pleats With Your Curtains
In case you are thinking like me, you may believe that gathered curtains or draperies appear so much better if every fold is consistently the same. Achieving that is easier than you may think. There are actually three special methods to approach the difficulty and I promise that, in one of these ways, you can achieve it. At times even pleated draperies need coaxing if the textile is springy or rigid and, of course, the best way is to choose a smooth pliable material in the first place. This is not always probable so lets talk about how to make ideal pleats regardless of what textile is used even including eyelet window treatments or lace material or a hard old-fashioned satin.
In case the curtain textile is fairly bendable the easiest leading attempt would be to fit the drape, pull each panel to one side and physically place the pleats equally. Next secure them back fairly loosely together near the top and at the bottom hem. Once this is completed you can spray the front and rear of the pleats lightly with a mix of water with a small quantity of alcohol added. Do this using a extremely fine spray devoid of soaking the fabric. You truly want a spray on the surface. You could also stroke your fingers evenly on each fold while they are still moist forming them into a nice curved figure. Leave them for several days. The form of the pleats will significantly get better, with any luck to the stage that they are fine without further fussing.
In case the pleats are still flaring the next tactic is to utilize what in the long curtains business is recognized as “shot tape” or in textile stores as “leaded weight tape”. It consists of a long, very small diameter cotton tube that is filled with a single column of approximately 1/8 inch lead balls to form a uninterrupted cord. Position this cord in the base hem from one side of the section to the another one. That adds mass to the drape. You can now assemble the pleats much more effortlessly. After you have prearranged them evenly they have a propensity to remain where you have positioned them because of the added mass and the relative unwillingness of the string to unbend.
