Hello I'm Angela Broughton from Polesandblinds.com
I'm going to show you today
How to make pencil pleat curtains
Measure your finished curtain length
across the whole width of the curtain
and pin in place.
Take your heading tape and pull the strings out from the end.
Knot the strings securely
and trim off the surplus.
Make sure that you remember you have a left and right hand curtain
so make sure that the knotted end of the tape
is always to the centre of the curtains with the knot sewn in
and hidden from view.
or the knot may well show
on the leading edge of the curtains
Mitre the
corner of the curtain
so you've got a neat edge
to attach the start of the tape.
Fold under and pin the tape
to the edge and top of the curtain. Fit the tape half an inch (1 cm ) down
from the top of the curtains. Its a good idea if you can
to start the tape where there's going to be a hook because
if you have it midway you'll have a flat section of
curtain showing that isn't gathered
pop the pin in
again
keeping it at ninety degrees to the hemline
Just a quick tip I've learnt over the years
it seems simple but always ensure you have the hook pocket
on the front side or you'll end up having sewn all the way across
to find that you've
got the position of the hook sewn in onto the face of the curtain
and you'll have to undo them all
You will need to have a double row of pins to keep the tape at ninety degrees,
keeping the bulk of the curtain to the left side
so that you only have a small section here
by the machine head. Mitre the other corner in
and pull the strings free.
Pin securely in place.
Machine the heading tape on holding it firmly and sewing slowly over your pins.
Machine both rows making sure you keep the knotted end
of the cord concealed and the cords free on the outer edge of the curtains.
Machine along the top and down the sides of the tape and neaten off. Do not sew
the loose cords into the tape, you will need to pull them to gather the heading.
Generally you need about 4 spaces between each hook
so that would be about 9 hooks to a width
but count the number of rings or sliders on your track
before you hook the curtains to make sure you get the quantity right
Take the loose string end
and pull the gathers evenly and tie a knot at the end
to make sure you keep the strings pulled
completely evenly
It's easier to do this on a flat surface to see the pinches are evenly spaced
Pull the strings evenly until the heading is the correct length. Wind the string around your fingers
and then wind the last bit of spare string around the knot to fasten it
Keep the knot in from the last hook
so doesn't show when the curtains are hung
There you have a single width
left hand side of a
pair of Pinch Pleat Curtains