Bunka Fashion College “Blouses & Dresses” textbook (Bunka Publishing, 2009) devotes a page to tucks.
“Tucking is a decorative technique for creating a beautiful three-dimensional shape from a flat piece of fabric where the fabric is folded either along the length-wise, cross-wise or diagonal grain and sewn parallel to the edge of the fold… Light-weight fabrics that are easily pleated are most appropriate for making tucks. Tucks are classified as shown below according to the way they are folded.
(goes on to define)
spaced tucks
blind tucks
pin tucks
cluster tucks (my favorite term!)
crossed tucks
graduated tucks
fullness tucks (defined as “tucks sewn to a midway point”)
sunburst tucks (formed in a radial pattern)
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“The Art of Dressmaking” (Butterick Publishing Co., 1927) devotes a chapter to “Tucks and Plaits.”
Covered are: nun’s tucks (term for wide tucks more than 2 inches wide), curved tucks (tucks that follow a curved line, such as the hem of a skirt), cross tucks.
The tucks section instructs:
“There are gages obtainable, of various materials such as metal, wood or celluloid, with the the inches plainly marked in some cases notched on one side; or a gage can be cut from stiff cardboard with the notches placed just where desired.” (Offers instructions to make a cardboard gage.)
The plaits section features an illustration for “Plaits stitched part way through with the threads pulled through to the wrong side and tucked.”
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Connie Amaden Crawford’s “A Guide to Fashion Sewing,” Fourth Edition (Fairchild, 2006) gives these definitions:
“A pleat is a folded excess fabric at the edge of a garment.”
“A tuck is the take-up of excess fabric of a dtermined amount, at the edge of the garment and converging toward a point or points of release.
“Dart tucks are used to control and release fullness as well as to create design details.”
“Release tucks are used to control fullness and then release it at a desired point, such as at the bust or hips. Sometimes, fullness can be released at both ends of the release tucks.
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Professional Sewing Techniques for Designers (Fairchild, 2009)
From a section on “dart transformation”:
“Pleats are an unstitched, folded dart held securely along the joining seam line.”
“Tucks are narrow folds in the fabric and are used to control fullness and shape the garment… Tucks are usually formed on the outside of a garment but can be stitched on the inside as well. The most frequently used tucks are blind tucks, spaced tucks, dart tucks/release tucks, and pin tucks.”
“Blind tucks are tucks that meet. The foldline of one tuck touches the stitching line of the adjacent tuck so no spaces show between the tucks.”
“A dart tuck is a partially stitched, inverted dart. ”
“Dart tucks or release tucks can be open at one end, or both ends, or the free end of the tuck may be stitched down to the garment across the bottom.
Professional Sewing Techniques for Designers also devotes a chapter (19 pages) to darts and pleats. According to the book’s definition, the above photo illustrates a “release tuck.”
