Pinch Pleating Curtains (The Easy Way)

An easy way to pinch pleat your curtains. I’ll show you how I managed to pinch pleat my curtains without any sewing!

Hi, my name is Jenna and I loooooove curtains…..and I also have home decor commitment issues which is never a good thing

The time was coming. I could feel it in my bones. I wanted to make some changes and my curtains seemed like the easiest target.

But I really do like all of my curtains so I knew I didn’t really need to change them out. I had this itch for a while to try to update my curtains to look a little bit more high end.

I have always loved the look of pinch pleated curtains but always assumed it was an impossible task to take on. So I kept ignoring my itch.

I’ve searched for already made pinch pleated curtains and have highly considered purchasing these curtains on Amazon. I knew once I fell in love with them I’d want them on all of my windows.\

(See my favorite budget curtains blog post here. I also found these already pleated curtains that are much more affordable)

And then I would have to take out a separate loan to just dress up my windows.

And, again, I really do love my IKEA curtains.

And then I saw on Amazon this pleating tape and thought, hmm…I wonder if this is the answer to my curtain problems.

But the thought of taking out my sewing machine to sew on the pleating tape made me nauseous.

And then one day a miracle happened. I took one of my IKEA curtains down to move it to another room and there to my surprise I saw it.

It was the most magical thing ever.

Pleating tape was right there in front of my eyes…already sewn onto my IKEA curtains. I was speechless.

I know there are better things in life to get excited about but when I say I was so excited, I was fall on the floor excited.

How did I not know this?? I have been buying curtains from IKEA for 5 years. The back of those curtains are right up against my face when I am hanging the curtains.

How did I not see the pleater tape??

So I took my thoughts to Instagram and I was surprised to see that I was not the only one that did not know this. In fact, 70% of my followers had no idea about my discovery

I felt like such a pioneer bringing this good news to them.

I then had a few people reach out to me saying they had no idea what pleating tape or what a pinch pleat curtain even was.

So this is how this post was born.

I’ll answer a few questions first and then get into how I pinched my IKEA curtains to look like a million dollars.

(And if it is at all possible, I think I love IKEA more now.)

(This post contains affiliate links. You can see my disclosure policy here)

What are pinch pleat curtains

Pinch pleat is a name for the heading of your curtains when they are hung. Essentially it’s fabric pinched together to make a pleat.

Some people sew the pleats together. I on the other hand took advantage of the pleat tape that was already sewn onto my curtains.

How to make pinch pleat curtains

If you are adventurous you can sew your own pleats into your curtain. Or…you can purchase pleating tape and sew the tape (or iron on heat bond) to your existing curtains. I used these pleat hooks as well. More on all of this later.

How to hang pinch pleat curtains

Once you have your pleater hooks inserted into your pleater tape, I used these curtain rings to hang my curtains from.

How to make pinch pleat curtains without tape

I am sure there are tutorials out there to show you how to sew pleats into your curtains.

Back in the day I made curtains with fabric and I used a cheater method to hang them to look like they were pleated.

So if you really want to cheat, you can read one of the first posts I had ever written about my faux DIY pinch pleat curtains.

It will not give you the same exact look as a real pinch pleat but it looked good enough for me and was extremely easy to do.

Does IKEA have pinch pleat curtains

Heck yes! And if you still have to ask this question then you have not been paying much attention to my post. But not all curtains from IKEA have the pleat tape. Any of their grommet curtains will not have pleat tape or their curtains with a tab heading.

But most of the others will have the pleat tape

How to hang IKEA curtains with a pinch pleat

Now let me show you how I hung these bad boys.

If you are wondering if what I am about to show you is worth it, here is a side by side comparison.

The left curtain panels is how I usually hang my curtains and the right curtain panel is after I pleated my curtains.

You can decide if you want to take on this challenge.

And when I say challenge, I mean that in the most loving way. There was a hot second when I thought I would thrown my curtains and their pinch pleats into a bonfire.

It started off real ugly. I watched a few videos on YouTube and while those videos helped, they were not doing the trick for me.

I’ll spare you the ugly details and just show you how I figured out what was the easiest and less painful way to do this.

On the back of your curtains you will see the pleating tape and it should look as such.

If your curtains do not already have this pleating tape you can buy curtain tape on Amazon. You can either sew or use heat bond to attach this tape to your curtains.

I cannot say for certainty how well the heat bond will work but since the weight of the curtains is distributed evenly, I think I can assume it should hold up pretty well.

If your curtains have back tabs sewn you might have to cut them off depending on how thick they are. The back tabs on the IKEA curtains are sewn over the pleat tape and are literally just threads.

I worked in sections in between the back tab threads of the IKEA curtains

The pleating tape has 16 slots in each section. I counted 4 from left to right and inserted a toothpick…counted 3 and added a toothpick, counted 3 added another toothpick, counted 3 one more time and added a toothpick

Do not skip this step or pass go without your toothpicks. The toothpicks will be your life saver.

I used these pleat hooks from Amazon. I think IKEA has hooks but those are different and will give you a different look.

I then inserted my pleat hooks where the toothpicks are and worked the hooks up through each slot. Keep the toothpicks in as these will help guide you where the prongs on the hooks should go.

You can then remove your toothpicks. You pleat should look something like this

Before I used my toothpick trick, the prongs on the pleat hook where not going into the correct slot on the pleat tape. If that happens, your pleat will look like it had a rough day. It’s pretty important to get your hook into the correct slots.

You now get to continue this all the way down the curtain. Count 4,3,3 and then 3 again…insert toothpick and repeat

Once done, it should look like this. I did add a hook to each end of the curtains (not pinched)

And now you get to hang your newly pinched curtains.

I’m also in the process of giving our TV room a mini makeover and decided I wanted to double up my curtains and I love the look with pinch pleats.

If you look close enough you can tell where I am still painting. Ha! #reallife

I used these round drapery clips with eyelets. I love this curtain rod too. I have the same curtain in the longest length in my living room

(I still need to pinch these curtains. Once you start, you cannot stop)

I really think pinch pleating your curtains can make your curtains look so much more high end. Yes, it takes time but it is worth it to me. Especially since I am taking very affordable curtains and making them look like they are designer window treatments.

Let’s talk about curtains for a second.

I wrote a whole blog post about the best budget curtains. I love curtains and I think I have an addiction to them. I think they are the jewelry to your home decor.

They really can elevate a space.

I purchase 96.53% of my curtains from IKEA. You just cannot beat the price and they have longer length curtains. (Do not get me started on 84″ curtains. ) All of their curtains come in a pair so the price you see is for two curtain panels

And now that I know they have pleat tape already sewn on I will likely always purchase my curtains from there.

I know some of you do not have an IKEA near you, but you can have your curtains shipped to you. Shipping is about $5-10 for smaller items and well worth it.

I have the Sanela curtains in my dining room, I have the Hannalill curtains in my family room, I have the DYTAG curtains in my bedroom and the ones in my front room are from IKEA but discontinued.

The Sanela curtains are velvet and so so so pretty. I do love them in a dining room. I am unfortunately taking them down and adding these curtains. BUT as you can see, even these curtains (that are not from IKEA) have the pleat tape sewn on.

When purchasing curtains online, there should be a section saying how your curtains can be hung and it might mention hanging with 4 prong drapery hooks

Now go forth and pinch your curtains….but bring 4 toothpicks with you!

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