Cartridge Pleats

This week in the costume shop, I learned how to make cartridge pleats. Cartridge pleats are most common with Elizabethan period garments. They are used on heavier fabrics to create a sort of hand-sewn gather. The most common uses are for skirts/dresses and for ruffs/collars.

First I did a small sample of cartridge pleating with muslin. These were my steps:

1. Mark a line one inch from the top edge of fabric.
2. Mark a second line two inches below the first.
3. Mark a dot every half inch for the entire width of the garment. You will have two lines of dots, one half an inch below the top line and one half an inch above the bottom line.
4. Iron down the top inch of fabric.
5. Use heavy thread to weave under over on the dots across the width of the garment. You need to have one strand of thread (like hand gathering).
6. Pull the strands to fit the waistband. 
7. Stitch along the back edge at the top of the waistband through the touch edge of the pleats.
8. Repeat Step #7 on the lower portion of the cartridge pleat. Fold over the waistband to catch the pleats as you go along. The waistband should fold back down easily. 

I put my cartidge pleat skills to work after the sample and made my very own ruff!