When you want to bring some texture to your plain fabric there is nothing like pleating it and manipulating it into beautiful folds – and in no time you have nice looking trims in your hands. Here are the ways I make these trims, with just plain fabric.
For making your own pleated trims, you can mark your pleats on a strip of fabric and sew them in place. Or do it free hand like I am doing – just wing it, and you will get OK pleats. But if you mark it you will get perfect pleats. Here, I am making simple knife pleats.
Keep making them on one side as you stitch the edge, keeping the pleats in place.
After you have finished one side, do the same with the other side, matching the pleats on the completed side.
After these pleats are also stitched in place, turn up each pleat a little by the middle of the fabric, and with a hand-sewing needle and some beads, stitch them in place.
You will want to finish the edges of your trim – I have used ribbon for this. Fabric strips can also be used.
Is it too blingy for your taste? Then restrict yourself to making simple embroidery stitches and it will look more subtle.
Here I will be making simple box pleats. Box pleats are made by folding fabric in a way that brings two folds together to form a rectangular shape on the front side.
Mark placement lines where each pleat will be folded. You will have to mark the inner fold lines and outer fold lines. Each box pleat has a pair of folds that face each other, creating the box shape.
After the box pleats are made, sew the sides after bring the edges of each box pleat to the middle. Stitch in place as they are made.
Make small embroidery flowers in the middle of each pleat.
You can add even more embellishments if you are so inclined.
If you want to sew this fabric trim to the edge of a clothing (like a sleeve or something) you can use this technique. (This method assumes that the fabric to which you are sewing the trim looks the same on both sides.)
Keep the trim on the fabric with 1 inch extra on the edge. Fold this one inch twice over the trim.
Checkout the video if you find this confusing.
Stitch it in place.
Now to cover the other edge of the fabric trim, fold over the fabric up and cover the edge. The fold should cover over the stitching line of the trim.
Stitch in place.
The finished trim will look like this
Another simple fabric trim can be made with already finished edges this way. You will have to make a fabric tube for this. Sew the edges of a 6 inch fabric strip together. Bring it rightside out. Press the tube so that the seam is in the back.
The trim fabric will look like this.
Start making knife pleats on the fabric. Stitch through the middle, holding the pleats in place.
This is how the pleats will look like.
Fold the pleats this way or that way, and stitch in place for a very simple pleated trim.
Related post: Making pleated trims with ribbon
