"Smocking Pleaters, Buttons, Piping
& Notions That We Carry"
To see everything else we carry click on the CATALOG OF PRODUCTS link above
Pleaters Perfect for Smocking & Shibori silk dyeing techniques!
The Amanda Jane Super Pleater from Australia
A Pleater is
a machine invented in the 1950's by the old Read Company in South Africa as an easy way to make pleats for Smocking. Starting out as a 16row pleater those old Reads were wonderful and are supported by the current owners for needles. Not to be out done the Americans came up with their own pleaters, the 16row Pullen and the 16 row Newel Pleaters. To fulfill the needs of smockers who wanted to do full bodice smocking without having to pleater twice the Sally Stanley 24 row pleater was born. All of these were fine pleaters but had the same method of changing needles by removing the metal plate which held in the roller bar with screws that took a bit of time to do and you run the risk of needles falling out before you are finished replacing the screws. Then came the Amanda Jane from Australia with it's wonderful innovation of scraping the screw and metal plate method with two side pins which hold the roller bar in place. I timed it when I first tried out the Amanda Jane and found that I could change my needles in 5 minutes instead of the normal 20 minutes the old screw/bracket method took. You just pop out the pins, remove the roller bar, replace the needles and the roller bar and pop the pins back in place. Easy, easy, easy.
If you have never used a pleater before know that it is not difficult and is certainly less time consuming than the iron-on dot method of forming pleats. This wonderful machine takes fabric that is fed in from the back and pushes it through rollers or gears that
are grooved and when are meshed together with the fabric in-between
pushes it onto specially designed needles which are threaded with quilting
thread. Once it has come through the pleater off of the needles and
onto the thread(s) it is blocked and sized waiting your beautiful smocking.
Today we carry the pleaters we consider the best investment for your money, the Amanda Jane from Australia and the Read pleaters from South Africa. ALL the pleaters come with precision brass rollers and ALL NEEDLES advertised in place and we pay the postage for USA orders. For those who want more rows we are offer the 32row Read pleater, favorite of Shibori fashion artists. Phone support on operating your pleater is included in your pleater purchase.
Shopping Cart Info - Please Read
Please note: Our shopping cart is set up to charge shipping but due to the complexity of the coding which goes beyond the understanding of fairies we ask that you trust us NOT to charge an extra shipping rate for just a pleater. We will send you a corrected invoice excluding the shipping. The pleater prices includes shipping however, if you have added in other items to your order we will charge whatever the extra weight will be. However some items can be included in your order without an extra charge, excluding Thread Caddys ... these are pine boxes and we must charge you $13.50 to ship. If you order just a Thread Caddy along with other items your shipping charge will be according to how much and what you ordered. We are extremely fair with shipping/handling fees.
Hawaii and Alaska orders will be charged $13.50 for pleaters due to the extra
shipping charge for overseas orders.
Due to the devalued American Dollar to Australian Dollar the Amanda Jane Pleaters have gone up in price.
Buying a Smocking pleater is a big investment, we
understand and want to help you by trying to answer all of the
questions you may have in order to help you in making your decision.
Choosing the right one for your needs is not hard at all but the main question
to ask yourself is "Do I need all those half space rows?". Please note that our prices include shipping
AND since we know all about smocking we are here to answer all of your questions
that you might have on smocking and the pleater, again don't hesitate
in asking us anything about pleaters and pleating.
Amanda Jane Pleaters
The best and most reliable pleater around! Consistent quality for more than 15 years.
Here is a picture for you of the half spaces in place which we recommend you thread with a contrasting color for easy viewing
READ PLEATERS SALE - Made in South Africa
Sale Pricing - Due to the difference in the currency exchange of the American Dollar we are able to put these on sale. When they are gone they are gone. All needles are included with each pleater. Our special deal of adding items for the same shipping might not apply, depending of course on what you order.
Shibori
While living in the heart of Sonoma County's art to wear world we discovered that many ladies were using their pleaters for the fabric painting
process known as Shibori where you will want to have the most rows available for pleating. One can get beautiful consistent pleats which
are perfect for hand painting in what ever designs your Shibori painting
moves you to make. Use with acid dyes (acid refers to the vinegar)
that require no steaming (Procion Mx). Fabrics such as rayon or silk
chiffon or wool challis pleat and dye with an elegance that is way beyond
regular tie dye. If one were really creative and the mood to make something
beautiful and original strikes you (and you might be suffering from a small
case of Empty Nest Smocking Syndrome) one could
make Shibori Fabric Sculptures and add in a little smocking here and there
to keep the pleats in place. Here is just one example of Shibori made
with a pleater from the book by Elfriede Moller
"Shibori" ($17.95). When you are tired of smocking perhaps fabric painting might be a new craft for you. All of the pleaters we sell can be used for this process.
Shibori has become very popular with three books out on the subject. To see these books please go to our Fabric Manipulation and Painting Books page
The Smocking most older Americans are familiar with
is to either use gingham or dotted fabric or make dots onto fabric in rows
and then pick up these dots in a precise manner to form pleats, this technique
is still done today. In Australia I understand that Smocking on a Brick
was a common method for making pleats and is still being used today when
pleating heavy or piled fabrics such as Velvet or Velveteen. (To read an
article written by Judith Brandau on this very subject, please click
here.)
There are also other methods that have sprung up from the inventive
minds of the past several hundreds of years but thankfully today we have
a little machine which does everything for us, well almost everything.
The 32 row Read Pleater - Good for Shibori or when you want the maximum amount of rows
Read 32 Row Pleater
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Back in stock after a long absence, we now offer the 32 row Read pleater from
South Africa. Now you don't have to fuss with double pleating as 32
rows is a lot of area to smock (about 12"). Comes with 32 needles,
a needle threader and two side pins that make it easy to replace the needles. Beloved
of the fabric artists as you have more area to paint and dye. We pay the shipping for the pleater only so please ignore the extra shipping charge that you see in the cart as we deduct this from your total before processing your order. If you order a thread caddy for the pleater we do have to charge $15.00 for shipping for the box is big and heavy. Remember phone support on operating your pleater is included in your pleater purchase.
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Pleating Dowels
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Pleating Dowel in three sizes
12", 15" and 18" longA perfect solution for pleating.
Carefully sanded and covered with cork and cloth which keeps your fabric from slipping. |
Quick Price
Comparison
-
Amanda Jane 24-row $225.00 ppd
-
Super Amanda Jane $255.00 ppd
- Read 24 row $169.00 ppd
- Read Maxi $189.00 ppd
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Read 32row $216.50 ppd
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If you wish to add in a Thread Caddy to your pleater
order we have to charge $14.50 for the shipping, but you can add any other
items to your order without incurring extra shipping charges as long as we can ship them in the same box, if not we're reasonable in our rates.
Please
choose the category "Pleater with Stuff" category when you get to
check-out.
PLEATER THREAD
CADDY
This nifty little box, hand made
of pine, has a space for your pleater to sit up on top. Underneath
the lid are slots to hold your spools of threads or wound bobbins.
In front is a lucite bar with holes drilled into it to keep your threads
neat and tidy and where you want them at all times. Shipping is $14.50 to
add a thread caddy are a bit heavy. Please choose the "Pleaters With
Stuff" category when you get to checkout to get the correct shipping charge,
if you make a mistake no worries we will fix it and send you an email with
the corrected total. To order a thread caddy for either the Read Maxi
or the Amanda Jane Super please choose a 24 row caddy.
PLEATER
NEEDLES
Specially made needles for
the various pleaters are sometimes very hard to get, almost if not impossible
really so we suggest you order as many you think you'll ever need.
We carry original needles for the Amanda Jane as well as the generic brand
Bradley Needles which have been around for almost as long as the pleaters
themselves. If you have a Mary's Pleater order the Sally Stanley 24row needles. If you have a Durand Pleater order the Read 16 row needles
Original Read Pleater Needles
Note on old Read 24 row pleaters w/o red sticker.
It has come to our attention that if you have an old Read 24 row pleater that does NOT have a red sticker on the bottom (those built in 1980-84) the current available 24 row needles will not fit as they are a bit too short by 1mm.
At this time thus style of pleater needles is not longer being supported by Read & Co. The generics will not fit either. The only solution is to try the new Read 24 row needles and pleat slowly without any seams and be gentle while taking the fabric off the needles or buy a new Amanda Jane pleater.
May we also suggest you consider this book along with your purchase of
a pleater,
or if you already have a pleater this book is great for unveiling
the mystery of the pleater.
Metal Bodkin/Ribbon
Weaver $1.50 each
This notion weaves ribbon through your smocking stitches to enhance your
smocking.
Price $1.50
Quantity requested
Iron-On Smocking Dots
- $3.50 per package of two 24" x 36" sheets.
Two styles and two colors: (Regular spacing and Pleater Compatible
- blue or yellow)
Pleater Compatible Spacing
Blue Smocking
Dots
Yellow Smocking
Dots
|
Traditional Spacing
Blue Smocking
Dots
Yellow Smocking
Dots
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Pleater Compatible spacing (to match the contemporary
smocking patterns we sell).
Your choice of two colors Yellow
for dark fabrics or Blue
for light fabrics.
Click here to read our latest newsletter
on how to use these dots for bishop smocking.
Smocking Pro-portional Graph Paper -
$4.00 for 25 sheets to a pad.
Sheets are 5 x 8 1/2", two styles Stacking (shown) or
Regular.
From the Ellen McCarn Collection.
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Create A Plate
Designer by Debbie Glenn $8.00
A kit which contains 4 sheets of heavy translucent
paper with stacked cables printed onto it. The purpose of it is to place
it over a picture of a design or over a design on a printed fabric that you
wish to copy for smocking and then you color it in, et voila a pattern for
smocking.
Price 8.00
Quantity requested
Pre-Pleated
Insert for Smocking
We have available white inserts (Imperial Broadcloth)
Pleating
Service
Our policy is very simple, if no one has a pleater near
you or if you are tired of picking up the dots and want
to get down to smocking we can pleat for you.
Our fees are simple:
Postage is additional, just send us the same amount
of postage as you paid. Turn around time is usually 48 hours,
unless your fabric breaks a needle or
is one of those difficult projects - then we take the time needed to complete
the job, just let us know if you are in a hurry. Oh and if your project
breaks a needle then we have to charge $1.10 per needle.
Ready to Smock Dresses
Here is our Ready to
Smock page, more stuff to be added later.
Check out the pattern details on this
page for the styles
available. Please drop us an e-mail if you are interested.
¿ Lee usted español ?
Muestras y Motivos - Frunces Smock
Spanish Smocking Magazines
Wonderful magazine from Spain featuring bullion embellished smocking to the max. The quality of the designs are excellent. The Spanish are famous for their bullion smocking, influencing the craze that hit the American and Australian smocking world in the 80's and 90's. Today you can see cross influences in Frunces smock with heirloom sewing techniques and quality of the garments presented in each issue.
More issues available on this page Frunces Smock
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