I’ve had several questions lately about the availability and price of pleaters. So we did some research and here is what we found out. During the past few years, when I was not paying attention because I had a good working pleater, they have become harder to find and the prices have jumped … a lot! According to my source, the only pleaters currently being made are the Read pleaters which are made in South Africa. That explains the high cost to those of us in the United States. We found it interesting that the pleater was invented in the 1950’s by the Read family as an easy way to make pleats for Smocking. Keep in mind that if you are considering purchasing a pleater, they last a long time. My first pleater lasted 25 years before it started having issues.
Because not everyone has a pleater and may not be ready for the investment, we are offering pleated inserts and transferable smocking dots in our Etsy store. At this time they are only shipped in the US, but if you are overseas we can put you in contact with another source. ∼ Michie’
