How to make pinch pleat curtains

Pinch pleats are an excellent way to add formal style to almost any type of curtain or drape. What's nice about pinch pleats is that you don't need expensive mounting tapes to create pinch pleats, you can quite easily sew in pinch pleats and then use a more affordable mounting tape and your choice of hangings.

 

Use pinch pleats to give any curtains a formal look - no matter what type of curtain fabric you use.

 

 

At the top heading of your curtain fabric, create regularly-spaced pleats along the length of the fabric. Stitch these pleat from the bottom up, starting the stitch just below where the heading hem begins.

To make double pinch pleats, flatten the seam out on the table as shown on the left.

Press the top of the sewn pleat into a sharp fold with your fingers. Then push this fold down onto the seam line, forming two even pleats either side.

Hand stitch this fold in place as shown.

Use a long need to sew a stitch at the bottom of each pleat, at the bottom edge of the heading hem.

To form triple pleats, press the seam out flat on the table and pinch the centre of the sewn pleat - pushing the fold down towards the seam to form small pleats either side. Make sure all three pleats are the same size and hold them in place with a clamp.

Hold the three pleats in place at the top of the curtain with a small cross of stitches. I have used natural coloured thread here to illustrate the stitch, but I normally use thread that matches the fabric.

To hold the pleats in place at the bottom, work about six long stitches through all three pleats, just below the heading hem.

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