Making Perfect Pleats With Your Drapes
In case you are like me, you may believe that gathered curtains or draperies seem so much superior if each pleat is uniformly the same. Doing that is easier than you may perhaps think. There are essentially three unique ways to deal with the problem and I assure that, in one of these ways, you can accomplish it. At times even pleated curtains require coaxing if the fabric is spongy or stiff and, of course, the best method is to select a silky flexible material in the first place. This is not always possible so lets discuss about how to form perfect pleats in spite of what fabric is applied even counting waverly curtains or lace material or a firm old-fashioned satin.
When the curtain material is somewhat pliable the easiest leading effort would be to put in the drape, draw each panel to single side and physically assemble the pleats evenly. Then fasten them back moderately loosely together near the top and at the base hem. As soon as this is done you can drench the front and back of the pleats gently with a mixture of water with a tiny amount of alcohol added. Do this with a very fine spray devoid of soaking the textile. You only want a haze on the surface. You might also rub your fingers evenly on every pleat while they are still wet forming them into a pleasant curved shape. Leave them for several days. The form of the pleats will greatly get better, with any luck to the moment that they are beautiful without additional fussing.
In case the pleats are still flaring the next method is to make use of what in the drapes business is referred to as “shot tape” or in fabric stores as “leaded weight tape”. It consists of a extended, extremely tiny diameter cotton pipe that is packed with a single line of approximately 1/8 inch lead balls to shape a continuous cord. Position this string in the base hem from one side of the plate to the other. That adds weight to the drape. You can now arrange the pleats much more effortlessly. When you have prearranged them equally they tend to remain where you have positioned them because of the additional weight and the relative refusal of the cord to unbend.