It’s fun to experiment with fabric manipulation, but here are some problems that may occur when sewing pleats and tucks...
Help! Some tucks leave the work a bit loose at the sides and can be difficult to form into a square or rectangular piece of work. What’s the best way to deal with this?
Try this... The nature of pleats and tucks is that the two (2) sides that form the edges of the pleats/tucks can end up uneven, as the work here has many folds that can open up and distort. The following advice should help.
■ When pressing and sewing pleats and tucks, always aim for straight sides to minimise ‘drift’.
■ Sew or tack a line along the unstable sides, to keep the edges of pleats and tucks under control (Fig 7).
■ When pressing the pleated/tucked piece, use the iron to encourage straight sides. Pinning the work to the ironing board and using spray starch will help to ‘block’ the piece into shape.
■ For cross-tacked tucks, where the sides can be quite rumpled and distorted because of the various folds, use spots from a glue pen to fix edges into place.
■ Trim the work as needed to get the shape you want.
■ For pieces of work intended to accompany patchwork, add a border at these sides to help stabilise the work and create a square or rectangular piece (Fig 7).
Help! What’s the best way to sew tucks together when a cable effect is required?
Try this... The tucks can be sewn almost invisibly by using a thread colour to match the fabric or create a feature by using a contrasting coloured thread. You can also embellish the work by adding beads.
To sew so that the stitching starts and stops invisibly, try this method (Fig 8). Knot the thread and take the needle into the fold of a tuck, about ½in away from where the stitching is going to be. Bring the needle out at the marked point and make two (2) or three (3) stitches, taking th
