How to make a triple (french) pinch pleat heading

The best hanging method for your triple pinch pleat heading is a decorative curtain pole or curtain track using drapery hooks. Triple (french) pleat headings are simple, yet extremely elegant curtain headings. Use a fabric of medium weight so the pleats are not too thick or bulky when made up. The groups of 3 pleats are spaced apart. They are pinched together with a simple stitch at the base and fan out at the top. The base could then be accentuated with a covered button. This is a formal, crisp heading. It works best with other soft furnishings that are tailored and exact in their appearance.

First of all, you need to make up your curtains. Refer to our section "how to calculate fabric amounts for curtain making" to ensure you make up curtains using the correct amount of fabric needed for a triple pinch pleat heading.

Choose to make either lined or unlined curtains as you prefer - according to our guide "how to make lined curtains" or "how to make unlined curtains".

You can measure and make the triple pinch pleats by hand, using buckram in place of heading tape. As buckram can be purchased in various depths, you can choose the depth of triple pleat you wish to achieve. We recommend a depth of pleat of at least 12cm for floor length curtains.

Alternatively, a simpler method is to use heading tape made especially for creating both triple pleats and goblet pleats. We have detailed instructions both methods.