Pintuck tutorial - Sew Vintagely
Search

Pintuck tutorial

I decided to try pintucks on a plain top I made for myself out of black rayon challis. I was inspired by one of the fabulous costumes on either Downton Abbey or Peaky Blinders. Can’t remember which one. I know – two TOTALLY different shows. But the costumes!

Anyway, here’s how I did it.

I made the pintucks with my sewing machine and a double needle. You don’t need a special machine to use a double needle, but your machine does need to have two thread posts. Pop in your double needle, use two spools of thread and thread each spool the same way through all the steps together, then one thread into each needle eye. You may want to look at your sewing machine’s manual for instructions about using a double needle.

Sew the pintucks first before you cut the fabric around your pattern piece.

First I traced around the pattern with chalk so I could mark the middle and cut a manageable block of fabric. To create the progression of tucks from the side to the front, I drew a straight horizontal line across the top and then vertical lines at perfect 90 degree angles. I measured down from each corner the same distance and made a mark. Then I drew a straight line down the front to where I wanted the longest tuck to end. Then I drew the angled lines from the points on the side to meet the point in the middle.

I didn’t need to draw a vertical line for each tuck because I used the sewing machine foot as a guide to sew equally spaced tucks. Sew one tuck following the line down the middle first, then continue outward on one side of the middle and then the other.

After I finished the tucks, I placed the pattern over the fabric, matching up the center front and traced one side, then flipped the pattern over to trace the other side. From there I completed the top as I normally would.

1 thought on “Pintuck tutorial”

  1. Wow. It is not as complicated as I thought it would be. Thank you for such clear instruction.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top

20% Off
Your First Order

Sign up for our newsletter for 20% off your first order and get the scoop on special deals and new arrivals.