Pleating a Gingham or one way nap bishop

Pleating a Gingham or one way nap bishop
Step 1 – No matter what pattern you are using, make sure you tear or cut your fabric across the top of the bishop
on the straight grain.
Step 2: I usually narrow serge the seams – it just makes it easier to go thru the pleater, if you do that. French
seams just tend to be to thick, no matter how tiny you try to make them. If you don’t have a serger, then you are
sort of forced to do French seams, so just try to make them as tiny as possible.
Step 3: Make sure your plaids, stripes or one-way nap, lines up as perfectly as possible at the seam – this will
make your seams less noticeable when you pleat the fabric.
Step 4: I almost always pleat my sleeves after I have stitched the seams – you can do it anyway
you want tho – pleat sleeves before seaming or after. If you pleat them after, you will not roll the
fabric on a dowel – you really don’t need to, since it is not a real long piece of fabric. Once
sleeves are pleated, leave pleating threads long and tie off so that pleats are not pulled up – you
need to do this in order to pleat the neck and it also gives you a chance to add lace or trims to the
sleeve edge.
Step 5: Roll bishop on a dowel, keeping it
straight as possible. Feed edge of fabric into
the pleater – starting straight is the key – so
take your time to get it started nice and
straight.
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Step 6: Using the grooves in the pleater
as your guide – crank the fabric thru the
pleater, taking your time to make sure
that your threads go thru the same line in
the gingham from beginning to end. If
you get off, it will be very noticeable
when you start smocking.
Step 7. Once you are done with the
smocking, pull out a lot of extra thread
so that you have enough once you fan out the bishop. It is better to have too much thread, than
not enough.
Step 8: Using a blocking board, pin your bishop to it. There are markers on the board for the size
dress you are making, so follow those guides. Match shoulder seams to shoulder seam guides on
the blocking board. I never pull out the pleating threads at the salvage edges of my smocking, but
I do leave that area flat where I figure the placket is going to be. The reason I do not un-pleat
those areas is that I might need a pleat or so to match up my smocking stitches – it is easier to
have those pleats there to use, if needed, than to try to pick up pleats later. I place the blocking
board on my ironing board, spray starch the pleats, then steam it – allowing it to completely dry
before removing it from the board.
Now you are ready to smock your bishop!!!
Pleating a Bishop Instructions by Laurie Anderson
Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved
www.southern-stitches.com ~ http://sewnso.blogspot.com ~ southernstitches@charter.net
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