Burda Style For people who sew

I’ve been seeing accordion-pleated skirts all over, and I love the look. I’m not even sure if ‘accordion’ pleat is the right term— all the skirts I’ve seen are almost-knife-pleated, but the pleats are not stitched down at the top. The end result is rather like a pleated lampshade or a paper fan:

http://images.asos.com/inv/media/9/2/7/3/1553729/darkrose/image1xl.jpg/

I suspect that one could set semi-permanent pleats into a synthetic fabric by some judicious ironing (melting?!) of the pleats, or the application of steam and vinegar. Am I on the right track? Has anyone pulled this off at home? I swear I’ve seen this sort of unstitched pleat set into silk before, and I can’t quite imagine how its would work on a non-synthetic. Would one simply have to treat it as dry-clean only and re-press the pleats when needed?

I would love to hear anyone’s insight on this. Thank you very much!

Jan 14, 2012, 01.20 AM by VolcanoMouse

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4 Posts

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  Jan 14, 2012, 03.25 AMby patti-r

  Your Link not working, Is this it??

  http://www.fashiolista.com/item/1420644/

  http://www.thelaundress.com/AboutUs/press/rp217.pdf

  http://laundry.about.com/od/howtoiron/a/ironingpleats.htm

  it is it reminds me of a Broomstick Skirt, they look pleated, many free patterns online here is one:

  http://sewwest.blogspot.com/2009/03/leslies-broomstick-skirt.html

  How to wrap a broomstick skirt:

  http://www.simplicity.com/t-sewing-techniques.aspx#broomstick
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  Jan 14, 2012, 11.24 AMby katexxxxxx

  Sunray pleating. You make a circular skirt and then get the sunrays professionally fixed. There are companies out there that do this for a fee: http://www.cimentpleating.co.uk/page3.htm
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  Jan 14, 2012, 05.08 PMby VolcanoMouse

  Ah, I think that’s it, Kate— I was looking at a skirt I had and puzzling over how it was pleated, since it’s definitely a curved pattern piece, not a rectangle. Sunray pleating it must be!

  Thank you both!
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  Jan 29, 2012, 02.39 AMby mickeygirl

  I have a 1970’s sewing book that describes how to make a pleated skirt. It was a circular skirt pattern. You need a synthetic fabric, a press cloth and iron. The skirt is folded and pressed and then repeated inside out at the proper intervals. So fold in half and press the sides. Match the folds and then press the new sides and so on and so on until half of the pleats are done. Then it would be folded inside out and new pleats pressed in the middle of the right side pleats. How many pleats around depends on the circumference of the hem and how close you want those pleats to be. The pleats at the top would be very close together or almost on top of each other.

  This might be what you are looking for? http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/3743/easy-pleated-skirts This is a different type of pleat, not a sunray pleat.

  I experimented with pressing a scrap and it actually was permanent even when I wet and washed the scrap. This is because the fabric actually melts when it makes the crease. The iron has to be hot enough but not too hot. Using the press cloth is safer and makes the surface of the fabric look better.

  It would probably be easier to use a pleating service since getting the pleats even and perfect might make you go batty. If you need a few pleats then you could do it yourself.