How to Sew Undulating Pintucks

In the UK, we’re entering into spring and summer (although the British weather might still be telling us otherwise) which means it’s floaty blouse and dress sewing season – yay!!

Right now, one of my favourite blouse patterns to sew is the Tilly and the Buttons Marnie Blouse. This is a super cute dress and blouse pattern with lots of pretty details included such as a frill sleeve, a ruffle collar and those all-important and super pretty undulating pin tucks. 

At first glance, these can look a little scary since they do require a bit more time and care but don’t be put off or tempted to leave them out. These cute little tucks can elevate this blouse and once you know how to sew them you’ll want to add them to everything as they aren’t as difficult as they look and are so satisfying once done – I promise! 

NOTE: For reference, I’m sewing my blouse from a floaty white viscose fabric. If you want to make your task easier you can choose a more stable fabric which easily presses such as a cotton poplin or lawn. 

Preparation and cutting out
Let’s take a closer look at the pattern pieces which include the tuck detail. For the Marnie Blouse, the tucks appear on the front bodice yoke and the tops of the sleeves. You’ll notice that your pattern pieces for these blouse parts are marked with some notches labelled ‘Tuck 1, 2’ and so forth. 

Cut your pattern pieces out using your preferred method, for me it’s always cutting mat and a rotary cutter. Before removing your pattern pieces for the sleeves and front yoke, mark the notches for the tucks as accurately as you can. 

To do this you can either, snip into the fabric taking care not to snip further than the required seam allowance, mark with tailor’s chalk, an erasable fabric marker or tailor’s tacks. I’ve opted for some careful snips here. 

A bit of preparation goes a long way…
First thing’s first, we need to stay stitch the neckline of the yoke. We’re going to be handling the front yoke a lot during the creation of the pin tucks and we don’t want anything cut on the bias (the curved areas) to accidentally stretch out of shape as we’re working. This is especially important if you’re working with a fabric with a lot of movement and drape for example, a viscose, rayon, crepe or silk like I am!

Ready to go, let’s sew…
So, we’re cut and prepped, let’s get creating those pretty undulating tucks…

1. Firstly, we need to create the tucks. Working from the right side of the fabric, bring the first and second tuck notches (or marks) together to meet on both sides. This will create a horizontal fold along the yoke piece. 

2. With your iron, carefully press along the fold making sure that your notches are meeting on both sides. 

I found the easiest way to do this was to pull very slightly on the fabric at each end to create some tension. This tends to keep the fold straight. I then gently tapped the iron along the fold rather than dragging it across which could pull the fabric out of line. 

3. Once your first tuck is pressed in place, take a tape measure or ruler and double-check that your press line is exactly parallel to the bottom edge of the yoke all the way along. 

Once you’re happy with your first line, go ahead and press your 2^nd, third and fourth tucks in the same way taking care not to accidentally press out your previously pressed tuck lines as you go.

Double-check that your pressed lines are all evenly spaced using your tape measure or ruler. 

Your yoke will now have a lovely concertina-style pressed pattern to it!

4. With the fabric folded wrong sides together (right side facing upwards), stitch each tuck 5mm from the folded edge. The easiest way to do this accurately is to line the pressed edge up with a point on your sewing machine presser foot or a mark on the needle plate.  I used a slightly longer stitch length (3mm) for this part so as not to pull on the fabric too much.

TIP: If you feel particularly nervous about this step, you could draw your line with an erasable fabric marker or chalk but make sure the marker will erase on a piece of scrap fabric first – particularly if your fabric is light!!

Continue sewing the tucks in this way until you have sewn all four tucks. 

5. Your tucks will no doubt be looking a little bumpy after sewing, so take them to the ironing board and press the tucks upwards and then downwards. Alternating the direction of the pressing will help undulate the tucks in our next step. 

I always find it helpful to press the tucks from the back too to make sure that nothing has accidentally folded or been pressed out of place along the way!

6. Time to create those undulating tucks. To make sure our tucks are evenly spaced it’s best to start from the middle and work outwards. Fold the yoke (or sleeve) in half and press the fold. Open out again and from the RIGHT side, pin the tucks facing downwards along the pressed line. 

Measure an accurate 4cm along from the centre front pins and pin the tucks in an upwards direction here. 

TIP: You can use the tip of the iron to do this if it helps. 

Measuring 4cm from the other side of the centre front, pin the tucks in an upward direction again.

Continue pinning the tucks in alternate directions 4cm apart. You will either have 5 or 7 lines of pins depending on which size you are sewing. 

7. Take your pinned tucks over to the sewing machine and topstitch accurately along your pinned lines in a vertical direction. Sew slowly and carefully to ensure a nice, straight line here.  Be sure to backstitch at the end of each line. 

My sewing machine has a French knot function which can be used as a backstitch which I found gave a neater finish than reverse stitching. 

TIP: If you find it a little awkward manoeuvring around all the pins. I found it easier to remove the first couple of pins and hold the tucks in place with my finger and then continue to remove the other pins as I sewed.

8. Using the tip of the iron, press carefully along your lines of topstitching to help keep the tucks in place. You can hover the steam over the tucks if you find it easier. 

Tack the tucks in place at the raw edges of the yoke to keep them sitting in the right direction for when we continue to construct the rest of the top.

Voila – your undulating tucks are complete. They really are super pretty and well worth the extra effort I’m sure you’ll agree!  

If you are making the Marnie blouse or dress, I found it easier to create the tucks on the yoke and sleeves all in one go before constructing the rest of the garment. That way it felt like I had got the most difficult part out of the way first ☺ 

I hope you’ve found this tutorial helpful! Thanks for reading and happy sewing…

Sally