DIY attempt number 6

[Aspiringloser]

I tried something new on this one to help eliminate the frustration of wandering stripes in a pleat. I use a mechanical chalk pencil that gives me fine lines that a piece of blackboard chalk just can not do. I make marks on my center line of each pleat. Then I make my marks to either side of the center at the waistline and the same at the bottom of the fell. I line up a straight edge (I'm using a framing square) and then put another straight edge in a line from the waistline mark to the bottom of the fell. I then draw several light lines with the mechanical chalk pencil. Don't bear down too hard to try to draw the line in fewer strokes. This will skew the fabric and make the whole process of using straight edges in vain. Now do the other side. Still pull the pleat taut per the book's instructions but fold on the line you've drawn. The line on the other side is where the folded edge of the last pleat will lie. Just match chalk lines to chalk lines. I'm pretty satisfied with the results and will likely continue to draw out the pleats. I didn't draw out a center line on pleats that will have a stripe or color boundary at the pleat edge. I simply put my first straight edge on the stripe or boundary and draw the line from waistline to bottom of fell. This is how I did the black pleats on either side of the double teal. Does this make sense?