Category Archives: Pleatwork

Pleatwork Guide: The Gather Method of Creating Pleats

[This is section 1.3 of my Pleatwork Guide. See the Introduction (Main Page) or the Table of Contents to learn more.] The gather method of creating pleats involves sewing evenly-spaced running stitches in parallel lines to one another and then pulling the threads to gather the material into folds. This method is generally accepted as the most likely method of… (more…)

Pleatwork Guide: The Press Method of Creating Pleats

In addition to folding pleats into fabric, you can also press them in using a variety of techniques. No manual from the 15th or 16th centuries is known to exist that explains the press folding method of creating pleats, so it is unclear if the sempstresses of this era would have employed such a method to pleat their cloth. However,… (more…)

Pleatwork Guide: The Fold Method of Creating Pleats

Material can be pleated in a variety of ways. The most basic method, and likely the very first method our ancestors ever employed, is to simply fold the material. Let’s look at the research and the actual practice of pleating material using the Fold Method. Research: Some undergarments were pleated with the fold method, which involves doubling the material upon… (more…)

Pleatwork in the 15th and 16th Centuries: An Introduction to Pleatwork (m.k.a. Smocking)

Preface: I’ve been studying pleatwork (known modernly as smocking) for several years now. In 2014 I wrote a research paper called “Techniques of 15th and 16th Century Pleated Undergarments” which discussed the nature of pleatwork and the various stitches that create and secure it. I didn’t put the paper online, however — instead, I fussed over it. Well, it’s time… (more…)