The timeless pleated skirt will add sophistication and femininity to your look. You can buy a pleated skirt in a store, but it's much more pleasant to sew it yourself. It is not difficult to make pleats at home, although you still have to tinker. You will spend several hours making a paper form, but later on it can be used repeatedly.
It is necessary
Fabric for a skirt, 12 sheets of thick paper (for example, drawing paper) measuring 60 x 80 cm, pencil, ruler, awl, thread and needle (or glue), weight, iron, steaming cloth, soapy water solution
Instructions
Step 1
To get a shape for a straight pleated pleat, you should mark and then fold the prepared paper sheets. To do this, sit comfortably on a large table. Place three sheets of paper exactly one on top of the other, attach them to the table with buttons. Having retreated from the edges by one centimeter, draw two horizontal lines at the top and bottom. From left to right, make punctures on the lines, alternating distances of one and two centimeters. Connect the points with lines vertically using a ruler. Remove the sheet from the top and follow the same procedure for the next two sheets. After that, bend each sheet with an accordion along the lines you have outlined.
Step 2
Having prepared all the remaining sheets in the same way, glue or sew two forms of 6 sheets each. At the same time, make sure that at the place of the seam or gluing, the sequence of the folds is not violated.
Step 3
Place the finished forms in an accordion on the table and gently iron with a hot iron through a linen cloth soaked in a strong solution of soapy water.
Step 4
Note that pleating a skirt in this shape will require three times more fabric than usual. In other words, the width of the edge of the future skirt should correspond to three times the volume of your hips. Sew the cut of the skirt along the shared thread of the fabric. Sew the bottom of the skirt in advance.
Step 5
Stretch one of the ready-made forms and secure with a heavy weight. Carefully lay the skirt on the straightened bottom panel of the form with the wrong side down. Be careful not to wrinkle the fabric. The vertical seam of the skirt should be exactly in the fold of the mold. A second shape is applied on top of the skirt in such a way that the folds of the lower and upper shapes coincide.
Step 6
Re-secure the edges with a weight and lay the fabric together with the folds of the paper mold, reinforcing the prepared section so that the fabric does not move.
Step 7
Assemble the mold and steam on both sides with an iron through a cloth soaked in soapy water and 2 tablespoons of vinegar per 3 liters of water. The steaming cloth should be wrung out well. Thick fabric can be steamed twice.
Step 8
Remove the fabric from the mold. Cover the table with a blanket, a blanket with a sheet of paper, and place the fabric inside out on the paper. Correct the pleats and iron through thin paper with a not too hot iron.
