Pleats, Pleats, Me

A few more notions, in particularly purple Oakshott Fabric

I've been a bit more organised here, with markings at each end of the fabric to make even pleats.. These are roughly 1/4 inch deep and 1-1/4 inches apart.. Sew, press

Actually, I suspect that the unpressed pleats are just as interesting

Then crossed

Pressed again.. Oh, boy, fabric reduction by degrees...

And the back - also interesting..

A variation on yesterday's stripes-with-pleats, from my Summer Landscapes piece again.  I really like the way the pleats distort the patchwork

And here, even though this piece has batting and backing, you can see the light is altered by the layers and crossings.. Plain muslin/calico in the block - the sides of this piece are an odd brocaded furnishing fabric

Here I have made blocks - 5-inch squares were pleated in 2 directions, then trimmed (to 4 inches) and joined.  I tried to ensure that the pleats did not meet on the joins - this makes for easier pressing if nothing else

Working on the bias is interesting, too - here I have returned to the silk striped squares




Sewn, close together

Pressed

Snipped - I think this needs a wash...

Pleat, pleat, pleat

Now, stripes and pleats mix very well
With lines in all directions,
No time to show, but I will tell
In verse (defies inspections)




Join up some strips of pretty hue
And sew with stitch of colours
Press nicely and re-sew the two
Lines on the joining edges


Thus, make a pretty line of light
With haste, pressed and presented
And laid along from left to right
(not needful to be scented..)

Sew all along to hold them down
With yet more rainbow threads
Having first made the pleats lie down
Their tidy little heads

Return the lines, remake the folds
And stitch again with force
To make a three-dimensional
Effective line of course

So this is it, the final shape
Of course you'll find another
So play with pleats all the long day
(I'll not inform your mother)

Enough of this appalling verse
(You know it could be So Much Worse...)

HH

Pleatishness, more

Probably the simplest pleats are Pin Tucks - made with a nice bit of 19th-century technology.. here you see two pin tuck feet, with different numbers of grooves. Each needs the appropriate Twin Needle.  here I am going to get all Stern and point out that you actually do need a machine which zigzags to do this - I get a dozen enquiries a month from vintage machine-users asking if it's possible to do twin-needle work on a straight-stitch machine.. Er, No!
Anyway, digressing aside, the needles come in lots of sizes, and the feet come with lots of different sets of grooves..

So, thread your machine (all these years you were wondering what that second spool pin was for? This is it.. If the machine has three tension discs, take one thread into each side, otherwise just run the two threads side-by-side all the way through the regular thread path until you reach the needles, then thread one strand into each. It's nice to use two colours, so you can see what happens.. the bobbin is threaded in the usual way

Sew a straight line.. The fabric pops up magically between the needles and is pin-tucked automatically



Your first though may have been to wonder why the extra grooves are there - this is why - you can run the foot over the previous tuck to get closely-spaced lines

Now try some wibbles and wobbles, and crossings, and such...

And here's the back.. Tension needs work, I think..
You can also run a fine cord into the pin tuck..
More tomorrow.. Sleep well...

Com-Pleatly Crazy

Now, it's time for tucks, pleats and pintucks.. Most of these first samples are in silk taffeta

I have some nice wide-stripe silk taffeta samples, which are good to play with. I folded the fabric with the join of colour on the edge, and sewed a seam of relatively even width...

Crease and repeat...

Then fold the other way and make crossing pleats

Same fabric, pleats in slightly more random arrangements

Rinse and repeat again...

Interesting on the back, too.  I like the way this messes with the regularity of the stripes

And look, how much it reduces the sizes of the pieces (untouched sample at the back, and the pleated ones pressed)
One method of reducing your stash.

I've been on the road today, 8 hours teaching and 5 driving.. Now to bed, more tomorrow...