how to iron your pleated skirts so your pleats are sharp and stay that way
i know, i know, another pleated skirt tutorial. there’s so many out there i contemplated not writing this, but i’ve made a lot of pleated skirts. too many. more than i care to admit. and despite the amount of tutorials i’ve read, how to really make my pleats nice is something i had to figure out myself through trial and error. i want yours to be perfect on the first try.
note: this is not a tutorial on the construction of a pleated skirt. as i said before, there are plenty. i like this one. this is just the finishing touch, nice sharp pleats.
first, let’s say you had the foresight to read this tutorial before starting your skirt! good for you. here’s a few construction tips that will help make the final result nicer.
use a fabric that irons well. twill is incredible. i love twill. if you can get ahold of twill in the color you need please just use twill, you will be so happy later. not stretch twill though, the normal unstretchy stuff. if they don’t have twill just talk to your fabric store ladies, ask how well the fabric you want to use will hold a pleat. fabric store ladies are very knowledgable and some fabrics (like twill!!!!) iron like a dream, others won’t crease at all. don’t get stuck with the latter.
even if you’re ignoring my wonderful advice about twill, use some kind linen or cotton, they can take the most heat without discoloring.
interface it. i know it seems to unnecessary and annoying but i finally broke down and put some interfacing in pleated skirt #5 and holy shit it made such a difference.
stitch down the first couple inches or so of your pleats.
iron as you go. every time you’re pressing literally anything, press the pleats too, because why not.
pin the bottom of your pleats when you’re first pinning them in place and don’t unpin until you’re 100% done with everything, including all the steps i’m going to describe below.
all of these things are extra work and they all seem annoying and overcomplicated, but i’ve skipped all of them at some point or another to save time and i’ve regretted it every single time.
but let’s say you’re like me and have no foresight whatsoever. you skimmed a “how to make a pleated skirt” tutorial and then barreled on ahead on your own, skipped the steps that seemed unnecessary, and now you’re reading this because your pleats are sad and floppy and so are you. never fear, you can still have nice sharp pleats, because no matter what else you do sewing wise, how nice your skirts are comes down to the ironing.
(i had another skirt that i made after knowing all the sewing tricks but not the ironing tricks that was beautifully constructed, but it took going back and re-ironing it once i perfected my ironing to make it actually look how i wanted it to.)
you will need:
your finished skirt
a steam iron
a spritz bottle full of water (you can also spritz straight from your iron, but this helps)
spray starch
if they aren’t already, pin the bottom of your pleats in place.
arrange your skirt so as much as possible is on the ironing board. ideally, you should be able to go over most of the pleats without moving the skirt.
iron your skirt. your iron should be at the highest setting your fabric can handle, which if you picked a good fabric is the highest one.
spritz the whole skirt with water. iron them again.
spritz the whole skirt with starch. iron them again.
steam press the bottoms of your pleats.
iron the whole thing again for good measure.
rearrange your skirt and repeat the process on any parts that haven’t been directly ironed.
it’s a lot of ironing, yes, but it works and i’ve always found ironing super satisfying and nice-smelling. you can now unpin the bottom of your skirt. go forth and slay your enemies with your skirt, because that’s how sharp those pleats are gonna be.
So I started working on some cosplay and it required a pleated skirt. I wanted the pieces to match well so I'm trying to make most of the pieces myself. I've never made a pleated skirt before, and I didn't really want to buy a pattern, so I attempted it myself, and I figured I would post what I stumbled through so if anyone else wanted to have a go they could.
First off start with whatever fabric you plan on using.
I picked a purple corduroy.
I basically held the entire thing up to me, figured out a good length and then folded the fabric over on itself. Make sure the sides are even with each other, that way when you cut it you have a straight line. When it's even pin the edge of the fabric over to hold it in place. (If you look in the picture above you can see where I pinned it). Cut the excess fabric at the edge you pinned, so the two sides of the fold are the same size, and then iron it so that you have a crease when you open it. Cut on the crease.
You should have two pieces like that. I would suggest sewing two of the short sides together now, so as to make your pleats continuous, rather than two sets. However, I didn't so we will get to that later.
I decided on 2" pleats but this should work for whatever size you pick.
To make the pleats I started from one edge of the fabric and measured my 2 inches. Like so...
(I didn't take the picture from the edge but it's the same process)
You then measure 2 inches from that spot and fold the first spot on to the end of the second.
Pin that down and then measure 2 inches from the fold. Grab the fabric and fold it back to your first fold.
Continue along the entire piece of fabric and you should have something like this...*edit: this would be a good time to check the width of the fabric, you may have to cut part of it off if it's too big or add extra fabric if it's too small*
Then you want to baste the top of your fabric so that the pleats stay in place during the whole process.
At this point I put the skirt aside and worked on the band that goes across. Basically you just need a rectangle of fabric, the width is up to you. Personally I made my skirt way too long so I just cut off a couple inches off the bottom and used one of those pieces. Once you have a rectangle of fabric you want to fold over both edges and pin it down.
This is what I ended up with. You want to make sure the band is as long as you are wide. So I had to cut down the fabric a bit to fit. The sides are all nice and pinned and now you can start sewing it. Fold the band so that you have the right side of the fabric folded in on itself and sew each edge closed.
Once you stitch it you may want to clip the corners and extra bits from the ends. Now you want to flip the band so it is right side out.
Iron the band so it is nice and flat. You can pin it again to stay in place, while you go back to your skirt.
At this point you should have something like this...
Next you want to close up the remaining side of your skirt. You want to attach some way of closing it. I chose to use an invisible zipper.
If you are not sure how to install a zipper the package normally comes with instructions when you buy it...at least mine did. It also had instructions on how to finish the side . After that side is finished you can attach the band to the top.
When pinning the band to the skirt you are basically wrapping the opening in the band around the top of the skirt. I started by pinning each side of the band to the opening left by the zipper at the top of my seam. Be sure to leave a little extra hanging over the edge of one side so you can add a closure later. Then I found the center of the band and the center of the skirt and pined them together. From there you are going to finish connecting the band around the skirt and then sew it in place.
Now for the hemming! When I am hemming something I take a small ruler or a seam gauge and measure how much I want to put up for the hem and then use the ruler to flip the fabric into the wrong side.
Pin this down. I find it helpful to start with the ruler to make the hem but make adjustments as I go. Each time I flipped a part of the skirt in I would then fidget with it until it was straight with the last bit I pinned down. Once you have the entire hem pinned, you can try it on and see if you like the length.
If you don't like the length you can then adjust it higher or lower. Once you are satisfied with your length sew the the hem in place. When your hem is complete you can add a closure to the small bit you left on the band.
So now you should have something like this...
It's a completed skirt! Yay!! Congrats if you did it right, hopefully it helps someone xD
