Adding Pinch Pleats to Ready-Made Curtains

This is a simple way to give ready-made curtains a custom polished look without purchasing new.

Begin by measuring pleat tape. Cut one strip the length of each curtain.
Sew the pleat tape to the curtain
Straight stich the pleat tape to the curtain on top and bottom. The pleat tape I chose includes sewing lines which helps in sewing straight lines in the correct location. Sew carefully being sure to avoid sewing over the little pocket at the bottom.
Insert the pleat hooks
Each long neck pleat hook has 4 prongs and a hook in the middle. Beginning with the first pleat pocket, insert one prong. Work your way down the fabric to insert the 3 remaining prongs into the next 3 pockets, pinching the fabric along the way to help form the pleats. One prong per pocket.
Slide the hook into the pockets as far as you can. This can take some adjusting to get them in correctly, but you will get the hang of it. To add the next hook, skip three pockets, and repeat. Keep repeating this with a new hook until you reach the other side of the fabric. It’s ok if you end up with extra fabric or pocket at the end. If this is the case, add an extra un-pinched hook to accommodate the gap. This should look unnoticeable after hanging.
Iron the pleats
After all the hooks have been inserted, iron the pleats a bit so they lay together neatly.
To hang the curtains, put the eyelet rings onto the curtain rod first. Then hang the curtain by inserting the pleat hooks onto the eyelet rings. Adjust the width as desired and you are finished! Stand back and admire your lovely new curtains.

Begin by measuring pleat tape. Cut one strip the length of each curtain.