How to Invert Drape Pleats

Inverted pleats produce a rich effect in drapery treatments.

Inverted pleated draperies are a classically elegant window dressing, appropriate in casual or formal settings. Inverted pleats do not use drapery tape. The best fabrics to use are medium to lightweight silks, cottons and sheers. It is helpful to fold a paper model before beginning on the fabric.

Things You'll Need

• Drapery panel, lined or unlined
• Dressmaker pins
• Invisible thread
• Sewing machine
• Scissors
• Needle and thread
• Single drapery hooks

Instructions

Making Inverted Pleats

1. On an 8½-by-11-inch sheet of paper, mark off five 1-inch segments with dots along the long edge. Fold the first dot back to meet dot three. Fold the fifth dot back to meet dot 3. Fold the paper edges of each side forward from dot 3. You have just created a single inverted box pleat. if you continue to fold in this pattern using drapery fabric, the width of the pleated fabric will be half the original length of the piece. It is possible to adjust the width of the pleats to use less fabric and exactly fit your window.

2. Mark the wrong side of the fabric panels along the top edge into 1-inch segments. Fold into pleats as described above. Pin each pleat into place. It is possible to reduce the width of the pleats on the wrong side by not folding all the way to the center (dot 3 in the example above).

3. Baste stitch across the top edge, securing each pleat into place. The pleats on the reverse side will be the same width as the pleats on the front side, unless an adjustment was made. Press along the top edge of the fabric panel to secure the basted pleats in place.

4. Stitch along the basted seam close to the top edge of the panel, using an invisible thread. Stitch again, 4 inches below this seam to define the drapery header and firmly secure the pleats.

5. Attach drapery hooks by hand at the center of each pleat in the header on the wrong side of the panel. The drapery is now ready to hang.

Tips & Warnings

• For a more complex effect, create a pinch pleat between each box pleat by folding every other pleat width of fabric back and forth three times in narrow folds accordion style. These mini-pleats alternate with the wider box pleats and are then secured 4 inches from the top of the panel to form the drapery header.

• If you adjust the width of the pleats on the wrong side, be sure to be consistent across the entire drapery panel.

References

• BurdaStyle: Make Box and Inverted Box Pleats!
• Calico Corners: Inverted Pinch Pleated Draperies
• Silk and Sunbrella: Inverted Box Pleat Drapes