I wanted to share sort of an overview of something I have in my “Sewing Stash” called the Perfect Pleater. Are you intimidated by making doll skirts that have pleats or think they are too hard to even try? Well, have no fear, the Perfect Pleater is here. It’s a louvered kind of flexible cloth board that has a series of tucks in it. It sort of resembles a mini blind only there are no gaps in this…it’s all connected together. It makes 1/4″ pleats if you use every single tuck and 1/2″ pleats if you skip every other one.
It’s very simple to use and all you’ll need is a steam iron and something hard like an old credit card to tuck in your pleats. A one yard length of fabric will yield about 10″ of 1/4″ pleats or 17″ of 1/2″ pleats. I’ve got quite a few pictures and have added most of the instructions right on my
pictures…
If after you read my tutorial and want to know more about the Perfect Pleater, there are many YouTube videos and other helps… just google “Perfect Pleater” and you’ll find lots of information. The Perfect Pleater can be found on Amazon, Etsy, Annie’s Catalog, and other places…
It also comes in a few different widths so you can do 1″ pleats for skirts.
My pictures show what it would look like for an American Girl skirt…
[If you click on any picture it will enlarge.]
Now that didn’t seem to hard, did it?
Here are a few pictures of some past “pleats” I did using the Perfect Pleater…sorry, I just picked all Riley pictures…
I hope you enjoyed learning about how to use the Perfect Pleater…
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Hi,
What a wonderful tutorial ! You answered all my questions and the best tip is the fusible piece to hold the pleats in place. That’s a great piece of equipment. Thanks again for all you do for all of us, Your Followers, Susette
Hi Susette,
I am so glad you enjoyed today’s tutorial. See, pleats aren’t so scary after all are they?
Blessings, Jeanne
That was really interesting to know, Jeanne! I am wondering if being left-handed, which I am, would make any difference in how you use this pleater. Also, do pleats always go from right to left or left to right? A lot of sewing tutorials are done for right-handed people, so I can never really get comfortable with them. This is easy enough though and it is so interesting to see how many little gadgets help sewers out!
Hi Linda,
I’m so glad you enjoyed learning how to make the pleats too. I’m not sure about left handed pleat making, but I’m guessing you could maybe turn it upside down and do it the opposite way. Just guessing this might work. And I’m not sure if pleats always go from left to right but that’s the way I’ve always done them.
Blessings, Jeanne
Thanks for sharing, Jeanne. I’ve always done my pleats the hard way; that must be why I hardly ever do pleats, too much brain effort and fiddling involved. LOL! Seeing your tutorial make this is a “must get” for me; you make it look so easy. Thank again, Jeanne!!!
BTW, Riley looks adorable in your pleated dresses, skirts, and jumpers.
hi Cindy, I’m glad you enjoyed the tutorial on pleat making. I hope if you get one you enjoy using it. it is truly a time saver compared to doing it the old fashioned way, by hand. Thanks for your compliments on Rileys dresses.
Blessings, Jeanne
Jeanne thank you so much for that tutorial on the pleater. I have used this pleater and the fusible tip is great! Thank you so much for sharing with us.
God Bless
Marsha
hi Marsha, I’m glad to show how to use the pleater for everyone to see how easy it is. Once you’ve used it you’ll never go back to making pleats by the manual way ever again.
Thanks Marsha.
Blessings, Jeanne
Hi Jeanne- I stumbled on your blog while looking for something else, but I have to tell you I am so glad I did. I love getting the emails every day with a golden nugget in them!!
I just looked on line for the Perfect Pleater and couldn’t find one. Has this been replaced by Mr. Pleater? I found lots of those.
Anna
Hi Anna,
I looked online last night before I wrote this post to make sure it was still around. It was but I will have to get back to you about a few links…
I just found the Perfect Pleater that I have on Etsy… Here is the link…
Perfect Pleater
The Mr. Pleater is for bigger pleats.
I’m glad you are njoying my posts each day.
Blessings, Jeanne
I used one once in a class and it worked like a charm..just didn’t know it was so pricey:)
I’ll have to keep an eye out for one. The skirts in your pictures are just perfect…
What a great Tutorial! The iron on stabilizer is brilliant. Thank you!
HI Kathie,
I know they can be a bit $$$, and even back when I got mine, it was $30 something then. You just have to look at it as an investment and know that when you’ve made a few things and sold them, it’s paid for itself. They hardly ever come up on Ebay…but you might find one.
Thanks Kathie,
Blessings, Jeanne
Love your pleats and fabulous fashions. I’ve been looking for a pleater, but haven’t found one in my price range as of yet.
HI Joy,
Just like I told Kathie, just keep watching Ebay and you might find one… at a lower price. If you do pleats very often, they truly are wonderful to have.
Thanks for your kind comments on my Riley dresses…
Blessings, Jeanne
Great Post Jeanne about the Pleater Boards. I couldn’t find what I wanted a while back and what I did find was too expensive for my budget. So I decided why couldn’t I make one. I found this site out of the UK that tells how to make one. Which I did in various size pleats. It works like a charm for doll clothes. I used file folders ( heavier and fold- able) for the smaller dolls. Here is the site: http://www.beaufrog.co.uk/dressmaking/make-a-pleating-board/487
Anita
Thank you Anita,
What a wonderful tutorial… I hope now everyone can have a pleater board…not just me!
This would definitely be cheaper than the ones for sale…
Thanks so much!
Blessings, Jeanne
Is there a way to use this to make box pleats?