French pleated drapes also known as triple pleated drapes or a fan pleat. French pleated curtains are very elegant and with a bit of practice you can become an expert pleater.
Decide how deep each pleat will be by experimenting with fabric. Take a section of fabric an inch in from the left hand edge. Make a ½ inch fold to the left and pin it in place. Next to the first fold, make another ½ inch fold, and pin them both down. Make your third fold. Unpin folds one and two and pin them together perpendicular to the fabric in a triple fan shape or French pleat. You may want to play around with different depths of material so you know how much fabric you will need to make the right size pleats.
Now that you know how much fabric you will need for a single French pleat, determine how many pleats you will need to cover the width of your window. Normally pleats should be 4-6 inches apart. Take your fabric measurements after you know how many pleats you will need in between. Do not forget to include the edge pleats. Add fabric per panel to the width for 2 inch side seams and 8 inches to the length for a 4 inch header and a 4 inch hem.
Make your basic curtain by sewing the two 2 inch side hems, raw edges turned under from top to bottom. Turn the top edge down. Before sewing it closed, insert a light piece of pellon or buckram to stiffen the header. Turn the raw edge under, stitch along the bottom of the header hem. Complete the bottom hem the same way, just eliminate the buckram.
Start making your French pleats following step 1. Pin the top of the pleat ½ inch from the top of the header. Go down 4 inches and pin the bottom of each pleat. This will accentuate the depth and folds of each pleat. Adjust the fullness across the width of the fabric. Once you have the right depth and width for your pleats, put a stitch at the top and bottom of each pinned pleat. This will help secure your pleats. Continue across the width of the curtain, until the end is reached. Repeat process for all other curtains.
Insert pleat hooks on the back of your drapes behind each pleat and hang your drapes on a traverse rod.
Anybody who has basic sewing skills can make pinch pleat drapes using pinch pleat tape.
Sew the drapes as you normally would. Pleating will use twice the amount of curtain, so the curtain panels need to be twice as wide as the window that is to be covered.
Turn drape panels right side out. The top of the curtain panels should be left with raw edges. Drop one or two pennies into the inside of the panel through the top open edge. You can use weights instead of pennies, you just want some weight to improve the way your drapes will hang.
Iron the hem and the body of the curtain panels. With the back side facing up, fold the raw edge over about ½ an inch. Spread the pinch pleat tape along the edge near the fold. Cut the pinch pleat panel so it matches the width of the curtain panel. Add about ½ to each side. Fold under the side edges of the pinch pleat panels to conceal any raw edges. Be sure to press firmly.
Stitch the pinch pleat panel to the drapery panel. Make sure not to sew the ends of the pocket hooks closed. Repeat until all drape panels are done.
Create your pinch pleats. Gather the top of the panel where you sewed in the pinch pleat. Make two pleats if you are using double hooks, and three pleats if you are using triple hooks.
Slide pinch pleated drapes into the pockets and hang your drapes on any kind of drapery rod you choose.
The main problem with pinch pleated drapes comes when it is time to hang them up. Having an extra set of hands will come in handy!
Call a friend and iron your drapes while you wait for them to arrive. Spread a clean sheet out on your floor in front of the window you will be hanging your drapes. Lay the drapes lining side down with the bottom extended. If your drapes do not have lining, place the wrong side face down.
Fold the top of the drapes back so you that the backs of the pleats are showing. Insert hooks into the openings. Most hooks will accommodate three pleats, but work if you only have two pleats. If you have three pleats, put one prong in each pocket, and slide it up so all you see is the hook.
Make sure all the hooks are the same height. This will help keep the drapes level and avoid sagging when they are hung. Using a step ladder will allow you to work in a more natural position than a ladder. Turn the top of the drape back to face the floor and accordion one drape together. Be aware of keeping the folds at the pleats.
Pull the cord on the rod to the open position. Hold drapes at the pleat and make sure that the hook on each side is easy to access. Slide the end hook in the hole at the far end, and the other hook at the other end hook on the first hole. Put a few in between hooks on the slides, the position does not matter as you are just keeping the middle section up while you hang the rest of your drapes. You will remove these in between hooks later. Now your windows look great with the help of your pinch pleated drapes.