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- 1). Measure and record the width of the flat panel from one edge to the other.
- 2). Subtract, from the flat panel width, the width you require for the finished panel. You now have two numbers with which to calculate the size and placement of the pleats; the width of the finished panel and the amount of fabric available for the pleats.
- 3). Find a number, around five or six that can be divided into both of these numbers evenly. For example, if the flat panel is 50 inches wide and the finished drape should be 20 inches wide, you have 20 inches for the spaces and 30 inches for the pleats. Five spaces of 4 inches and five pleats of 6 inches will result. One space will be split between each outside edge.
- 4). Place pins along the top of the flat panel to indicate the position of the pleats and spaces. Start at one edge and place a pin at one-half the amount required for a space. Place the next pin to indicate the pleat width, in our example, 6 inches from the end-of-space pin. Place the next pin to indicate the width of the first full space, in our example, 4 inches. Continue to the other edge of the panel, pinning the space and pleat widths.
- 5). Sew the pleats by aligning the pins for each pleat section, wrong sides together and sewing from the top of the drape toward the bottom hem, typically 4 inches. You are creating channels in the fabric from which the pleats will be formed. There will be a channel of pleat fabric, then a space of 4 inches, then a channel of pleat fabric, continuing across the top of the drape.
- 6). Finger-press the center fold of each pleat channel. Each pleat, in our example, has 6 inches of fabric. Each finger in the triple-fingered pleat will, therefore, be made of 2 inches but remember that the fingers are folded, so each one will be 1-inch deep. Hold the creased fold in your left fingers and force it down toward the sewn seam behind it. Keep 1 inch between your fingers. The two sides of the channel will flare out, forming the two outer fingers of the pleat. Fold these two fingers up toward the center crease, forming the triple-fingered pleat.
- 7). Sew through all layers of the bottom of the pleat, 1/2 inch from the front edge.
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