TYPES OF PLEATS

Sunil Talekar

ACCORDION PLEATS

This is considered one of the most basic types of pleating, and is used even today in skirts and gowns. It can be definitely dated to the 16th century, though earlier use is likely, and has been commonly used for basic gathering purposes.

ACCORDION PLEATS

Smocks were gathered to neckbands using this type of pleating. Petticoats and skirts were gathered to waistbands. Some large hanging sleeves were gathered to an armscye in this fashion.

ACCORDION PLEATS

Knife pleats produce a smooth line down from the gathering point. In other words, a knife-pleated skirt doesn't "spring out" from the waistline, but rather falls straight down.

ACCORDION PLEATS

The "classic" knife pleat, shown to the right, has a 3 to 1 ratio: that is, three inches of fabric will make one inch of finished pleat. It doesn't matter how wide or narrow the pleats are; if they look like the picture to the right, the 3: 1 ratio will remain the same.

In some 16th century gowns, deeper knife pleats were used. The depth of the pleat was two pleats, three pleats or even four pleats deep. A picture of this is shown to the right. This allows more fabric to be pleated to a band or bodice, and produces a fuller skirt. It also makes for a bulkier seam.

ACCORDION PLEATS

ACCORDION PLEATS

Accordion pleats folding

ACCORDION PLEATS

Knife pleats folding

BOX PLEATS

Box Pleats are one of the most popular types of pleats for Italian Renaissance and 16th century costume. They are, basically, two knife pleats "back to back". They are seen nowadays on some skirts. Box pleating is used by many for skirts and petticoats which will be worn over bumrolls, and is used to pleat large sleeves to armscyes and pleat the skirts of italian renaissance gowns to the bodice.

BOX PLEATS

Box pleats are often wider than knife pleats, but the basic 3:1 ratio remains the same--3 inches of unpleated fabric makes one inch of pleated fabric.

Box pleats have more "spring" to them than knife pleats. Box-pleated skirts tend to puff out from the waistline slightly. They are also good for thick fabric, such as brocades, velvets and heavy wools.

BOX PLEATS

In some cases, where extra fullness is desired, you can do "double box pleats", also called "Stacked Box Pleats",.

This type of pleat requires five inches of fabric to create one inch of pleating. It will make the fabric spring out even more from the seam, and produce deeper pleats.

BOX PLEATS

It also creates more bulk at the seamline. This type of pleat is very handy for creating small neck and wrist ruffs--if one edge of a 2-inch-wide band is pleated in this fashion, the other side will produce very nice figure-eight ruffles.

BOX PLEATS

"Stacked Pleats" are another variety of box pleat. Instead of the edges of the pleat meeting in the middle, they overlap each other for the whole width of the pleat. They are similar in nature to rolled pleats, and a picture of a "stacked pleat".

BOX PLEATS

BOX PLEATS

BOX PLEATS

CARTRIDGE PLEATS

Cartridge pleats are used to gather a large amount of fabric into a small waistband or armscye without adding bulk to the seam.

This type of pleating also allows the fabric of the skirt or sleeve to spring out from the seam. During the 15th and 16th centuries, this form of pleating was popular in the garments of men and women.

CARTRIDGE PLEATS

Fabric is evenly gathered using two or more lengths of basting stitches, and the top of each pleat is whipstitched onto the waistband or armscye. 

Fluted pleats or "flutings" are very small, rounded or pressed pleats used as trimmings.

The name comes from their resemblance to a pan flute.

FLUTED PLEATS

FORTUNY PLEATS

Fortuny pleats are crisp pleats set in silk fabrics by designer Mariano Fortuny in the early 20th century, using a secret pleat-setting process which is still not understood.

Fortuny pleats are crisp pleats set in silk fabrics by designer Mariano Fortuny in the early 20th century, using a secret pleat-setting process which is still not understood.

FORTUNY PLEATS

HONEYCOMB PLEATS

Honeycomb pleats are narrow, rolled pleats used as a foundation for smocking.

HONEYCOMB PLEATS

Honeycomb pleats are narrow, rolled pleats used as a foundation for smocking.

Honeycomb pleats are narrow, rolled pleats used as a foundation for smocking.

KICK PLEATS

Kick pleats are short pleats leading upwards from the bottom hem of garments such as skirts or coats, usually at the back

KICK PLEATS

They allow the garment to drape straight down when stationary while also allowing freedom of movement.

ORGAN PLEATS

Organ pleats are parallel rows of softly rounded pleats resembling the pipes of a pipe organ.

ORGAN PLEATS

Carl Köhler  suggests that these are made by inserting one or more gores into a panel of fabric.

Plissé pleats are narrow pleats set by gathering fabric with stitches, wetting the fabric, and "setting" the pleats by allowing the wet fabric to dry under weight or tension. Linen chemises or smocks pleated with this technique have been found in the 10th century Viking graves in Birka.

PLISSE PLEATS

PLISSE PLEATS

PLISSE PLEATS

ROLLED PLEATS

This type of pleat, which creates long, tubular pleats running from the waistline to the ankle, is not commonly found.

In fact, there is no hard and fast evidence that it was used at all prior to victorian times.

Nevertheless, it achieves the look of the pleats found in several 16th century portraits and pictures , particularly those of Lucas Cranach, better than any other kind of pleating I've tried.

ROLLED PLEATS

The concept behind rolled pleats is simple, if somewhat hard to explain--take a large pinch of fabric, fold the pinch up until you're back to the fabric, and lay it flat.

One person mentioned using a large serving fork for this purpose--place the fabric between the two fork tines and start twisting the fork, rolling the fabric as you go. To the right is a picture of the finished pleat. The one to the left is a rolled pleat. The one to the right has been called a "stacked pleat"

ROLLED PLEATS

This type of pleat requires more fabric than box pleating or knife pleating. The minimum amound needed for one pleated inch is 5 inches of fabric. Depending on the number of rolls you make per pleat, this can go up to seven. Needless to say, this can create a very bulky seam line. Some people prefer to finish the top of the skirt before pleating it, and then sewing the pleated edge to a finished bodice.

WATTEAU PLEATS

Watteau pleats are one or two box pleats found at the back neckline of 18th century sack-back gowns and some late 19th century tea gowns in imitation of these. The term is not contemporary, but is used by costume historians in reference to these styles as portrayed in the paintings of Antoine Watteau.

Kinguissie pleats, named after town in Scotland, are a very rarely seen type of pleat used in some Scottish kilts. They consist of a single centrally located box pleat in the rear of the kilt with knife pleats fanning out on either side.

KINGUISSIE PLEATS

SPIRALING PLEATS

SUNRAY PLEATS

These are thin pleats which are usually placed in the center of the garment. A good example is the pleats of a sari.

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