Hi Everyone! This week we're going a bit deeper with last weeks project. With so many cut pieces the issue of how to best finish those interior seam allowances arrises. I have a few quick fixes I'm excited to share!

For this example, we are going to cut the strips vertical along the grain of the fabric, hot horizontial as demostrated in the prior tutorial. This will allow us to finishe the seam allowances all at once, prior to cuting the small rectangular pieces apart. In the video, I demonstrate two techniques - one by machine and the other with a anti-fray product applied. For the example project in the video, I am using the skirt portion of the Cosplay Day Dress pattern (from the prior tutorial).

Week Four Task:

• I encourage you to try one of these techniques and post an example of your pleating work in the Facebook group. I've really enjoyed seeing the participation during the topic! If you have other pleating tips, please share them with the group!
• Jump over the SWC Facebook Group for conversation and project sharing. 

Patterns Used For this Topic:

Liberty Jane Pleated Skirt 18" Dolls

Liberty Jane Pleated Skirt 14-14.5" Dolls

Liberty Jane Piccadilly Peacoat 18" Dolls

Liberty Jane Piccadilly Peacoat 14-14.5" Dolls

Liberty Jane Piccadilly Peacoat 16" Ellowyne Wilde Dolls

Liberty Jane Piccadilly Peacoat 18" BFC, Inc. Dolls

Liberty Jane Harper Skirt 18" Dolls

Liberty Jane Steam Skirt 18" Dolls

Liberty Jane Steam Skirt 18" BFC, Ink. Dolls

Liberty Jane Steam Skirt 16" Ellowyne Wilde Dolls

Liberty Jane Cosplay Day Dress 18" Dolls

Hi Everyone! This week we take a look at using the methods we've been practicing and adapting them to the inverted pleat design element. 

An inverted pleat is a pleat formed by bringing two folded edges toward or to a center point on the outside of the material to form a box pleat on the inside. The design features a repeating inverted pleat element along the entire skirt.

You can use the machine method (with the tape marking and the pin folding) to make these pleats, you just need to remember that each pleat will fold in the opposite direction - one under - one over, repeating.

In the video, I demonstrate how to splice apart a pleated design to add contrasting interest. For the example project in the video, I am using the skirt portion of the Cosplay Day Dress pattern. I've simply sewn the waistband pieces together along the top seamline to create a standalone skirt. Note - The design of the pattern has a dropped waist, so the finished skirt sits at the hips (not the waist.) I show two examples - the first uses just one accent fabric insertion, the second uses a contrasting fabric for the entire series of pleats.

Patterns Used For this Topic:

Liberty Jane Pleated Skirt 18" Dolls

Liberty Jane Pleated Skirt 14-14.5" Dolls

Liberty Jane Piccadilly Peacoat 18" Dolls

Liberty Jane Piccadilly Peacoat 14-14.5" Dolls

Liberty Jane Piccadilly Peacoat 16" Ellowyne Wilde Dolls

Liberty Jane Piccadilly Peacoat 18" BFC, Inc. Dolls

Liberty Jane Harper Skirt 18" Dolls

Liberty Jane Steam Skirt 18" Dolls

Liberty Jane Steam Skirt 18" BFC, Ink. Dolls

Liberty Jane Steam Skirt 16" Ellowyne Wilde Dolls

Liberty Jane Cosplay Day Dress 18" Dolls

Hi Everyone! This week I have a PDF handout for you, you can grab it in the SWC Bonuses Section. It's an excerpt from my Sewing book and includes a step by step tutorial for forming knife pleats, box pleats, and a fun practice project incorporating the knife pleat. 

My best advice with pleats is. - practice, practice, practice! Play around with a few of the methods shown in the videos last week to determine which pleating method works for you. You can use both knife pleats and box pleats to add interest and variety to many different types of designs!

Week Two Task:

• Try out the box pleat. Look for a design that includes this type of pleat to practice.
• Take a look at the practice project included in the PDF. It shows how to insert a pleated accent strip into an existing pillowcase. How else do you think you could use this type of design accent? Look for a way to incorporate this into a clothing design - like a skirt accent or maybe a dress waistband? The choice is yours - have fun with adding pleats!
• Jump over the SWC Facebook Group for conversation and project sharing.

Next Tuesday - Part 3: We'll go deeper with hands-on demonstrations.

Be sure to watch the videos posted last week, there were several posted. I've included them down at the bottom of this post as well, just in case :)

Patterns Used For this Topic:

Liberty Jane Pleated Skirt 18" Dolls

Liberty Jane Pleated Skirt 14-14.5" Dolls

Liberty Jane Piccadilly Peacoat 18" Dolls

Liberty Jane Piccadilly Peacoat 14-14.5" Dolls

Liberty Jane Piccadilly Peacoat 16" Ellowyne Wilde Dolls

Liberty Jane Piccadilly Peacoat 18" BFC, Inc. Dolls

Liberty Jane Harper Skirt 18" Dolls

Liberty Jane Steam Skirt 18" Dolls

Liberty Jane Steam Skirt 18" BFC, Ink. Dolls

Liberty Jane Steam Skirt 16" Ellowyne Wilde Dolls

Liberty Jane Cosplay Day Dress 18" Dolls

How To Sew Knife Pleats -  Part 1 Machine Secret Tip:

Part 2 - How To Make A Pleating Board:

Hi Everyone! Let's talk about - Sewing With Pleats! 

Throughout this 4 part topic, we will cover a variety of pleat types and uses within different design styles. I'm really excited about this opportunity to go deep into this topic, exploring the specific ways to create perfect looking pleats every time! 

I'll be demonstrating these methods while sewing a variety of Liberty Jane designs to help illustrate how the basic techniques and methods are used specifically when sewing a small scale project.

There are so many ways to incorporate pleats into your designs. It's going to be a fun course!

Are you ready? Let's go...

In the videos posted below, I share with you an overview of the topic and then we jump right into our first set of tutorials covering sewing with knife style pleats.

Patterns Used For this Topic:

Liberty Jane Pleated Skirt 18" Dolls

Liberty Jane Pleated Skirt 14-14.5" Dolls

Liberty Jane Piccadilly Peacoat 18" Dolls

Liberty Jane Piccadilly Peacoat 14-14.5" Dolls

Liberty Jane Piccadilly Peacoat 16" Ellowyne Wilde Dolls

Liberty Jane Piccadilly Peacoat 18" BFC, Inc. Dolls

Liberty Jane Harper Skirt 18" Dolls

Liberty Jane Steam Skirt 18" Dolls

Liberty Jane Steam Skirt 18" BFC, Ink. Dolls

Liberty Jane Steam Skirt 16" Ellowyne Wilde Dolls

Liberty Jane Cosplay Day Dress 18" Dolls

How To Sew Knife Pleats -  Part 1 Machine Secret Tip:

Part 2 - How To Make A Pleating Board:

Video Info:

• Part 1 - There are other similar methods to the one demonstrated for making knife pleats without marking each pleat prior to sewing. I've seen a fork used, but this really only works if you have one that will make the exact size pleat you need. It's quite a handy trick though! You can also use a ruffler foot to make pleats, but this can be expensive and challenging to get quite right. The method I've shown here is similar to how a ruffler foot is designed to work (it just does the pleat tucking automatically).
• Part 2 - There are several tutorials out there for making your own pleating board. I've seen one done using wallpaper and another done with posterboard (careful scoring is done to fold these materials smoothly and evenly). I've seen a few examples of this freezer paper method as well - even one from Shari Fuller :) For this tutorial I tried to use several of the techniques and combined them into the method that works best for me. You may find that there is a version that you like better as you try out different ideas. It all just comes down to personal preference and sewing style.

Week One task:

• Pick a pattern design that includes knife pleats.
• Choose one of the methods demonstrated and try it out for the pleating portion of the instructions.
• Feeling industrious? Try out both methods! Make a pleating board in one or several sizes and experiment with pleats.
• Jump over the SWC Facebook Group for conversation and project sharing.

Next Tuesday - Part 2: We'll take a look at sewing box pleats.