On the market today are at least two products that are designed to make the forming of the pleats much easier. One is a header tape with strings you pull to automatically form the pleats. The other is a header tape with evenly-spaced narrow pockets you use with a special pleater hook. When you select the pockets to use, you determine the spacing of the pleats and amount of fabric in the pleats (to a degree).
Deciding to Make a Comparison
I decided to make samples comparing traditional pinch pleats with those using the pocket header tape. I selected a fabric that I happened to have in enough quantity to make two approximately 30" wide, 12" long samples. It is borderline heavy for pinch pleat drapes, and as you can see in my finished samples, the gathered fabric tends to flare out because the length is so short. But for long drapes, this weight would be fine.
For lining, I again used a fabric I already had - blackout lining. This lining is my favorite because it prevents the sun from shining through, fading the decor fabric and in some cases making the fabric look a different color. This lining also completely blocks outside light, especially good for bedrooms. Again, a disadvantage is the heavy weight of the lining, making it a little bulky for short pinch pleat drapes. So keep that in mind looking at the finished drapes below!
Pocket Header Tape Method
The pocket header tape sample started with the hemming the lining and the decor fabric separately, then stitching the sides together so that the decor fabric wraps around the sides. Since the pocket header tape has to be sewn top and bottom edges on top of the lining, I turned under the top edge and sewed the header tape on top. The first picture below shows the panel from the outside, the next shows the inside of the panel and the pocket header. (By the way, you can see a line of stitching down the right end of the panel - I didn't need to do that, and do not know why I did!)
The good news about the pocket header is no need for calculating pleat spacing and pleat fabric, the bad news, possibly, is that you have to work within those measurements. The pockets are spaced 1.75" apart, so your spacing between pleats must be a multiple of 1.75". The pleats also must use a multiple of 3*1.75", or 5.25". And the pleater hook itself makes each pleat span about 1". I chose to have three spaces between pleats and use one space for each of the three folds in the pleats. So my 57" finished panel width resulted in 5 pleats, 4 spaces between, and two ends measuring a total of 4.75". Creating the pleats is just a matter of inserting the four prongs of the pleater hook into pockets. Here are pictures of the inside and outside using the pleater hook method:
In the picture above, you can see the right two pleats look "open". This is what the pleater hook does by itself. In the left pleat, I stitched across the bottom of the pleat, pinching it together. I guess the look you want will determine whether the bottom of the pleats need to be stitched.
Traditional Pleating Method
The traditional pleating method requires marking the placement of the pleats on the fabric, then pinching them together and sewing. This gives you great control, and allows you to design your pleats to fall exactly with the curtain rod width. Many who do pinch pleat drapes by this method use some sort of pinch pleat calculator available on the Internet. The pinch pleat calculators you can find out there start with your panel width. Of course, I had to design my own!
I wanted to specify my spacing requirements and fabric width available and have it tell me not only my perfect spacing but how many yards of fabric and lining to buy. I wanted my traditional sample to use similar spacing and pleat size as my pocket pleat sample, so I keyed in the applicable numbers to my spreadsheet. The yellow spaces are where I enter specifications, and the blue spaces are my calculated cut widths and gap/pleat measurements. Note that in this method the pleat itself does not take up space, so the gap and pleat inches cannot be exactly the same as the pocket method.
Using the gap size of 6 inches and pleat size of 5 inches, I laid out my completed panel, with plain header tape sewn at the top (first picture), and marked my gaps and pleats with pins (second picture):
The next step is to match the pleat pins, fold and stitch. I marked my stitch line with a chalk pencil before stitching:
After marking, I sewed a 4" line down the mark for each pleat. The next step is to pinch the pleat in and stitch across the bottom. It is very quick and easy, actually. Since the fabric and lining are so thick, I tacked the folds in the upper part of each pleat with a couple of machine stitches.
Here is the result, showing the inside and outside views of the traditional pleat (top sample) and pocket pleat (lower sample):
Comparison
Personally, I like the traditional pleat result a little better. And I like the control you have to make the pleat fit window sizes and rods exactly. Isn't the pocket pleat method easier? Hardly, in my opinion. The marking of gaps and pleats and the little bit of sewing required for the traditional method does not take much time. The time-consuming part of making these drapes is the preparation of the panel itself, which is basically the same for either one.
Other considerations are: Amount of sewing: There are different ways of preparing the header part of the panel for the traditional method, either one of which requires less sewing than the pocket pleat method. Ironing: Someone pointed out pocket pleat drapes can be ironed as flat panels after washing, whereas the traditional pleats have to be ironed as pleated panels. But the pocket pleat pleater hooks are harder to reinsert than traditional hooks, so same difference to me. Expense: The pocket pleat header tape is more expensive - $1.99 vs. $0.79 per yard for plain header tape, and the pleater hooks are more expensive. But for a 36" finished drape, you are only talking about a $6.00 difference.
To me it is six of one, half-a-dozen of the other and comes down to which look you prefer.
