Westchester Showhouse 2013

The Cerebral Palsy of Westchester 2013 Showhouse is in full swing, and once again Leatherwood Design Co has a presence at this prestigious event, in Kim Freeman's Breakfast Room, photographed here by Susie Cushner.

This linen stripe features diminutive 2-finger pleats which draw the eye upward and lengthen the window.

A tiny silk loop fringe is sewn into the lead edge, and blends in so well with the fabric's embroidered stripe that it looks like part of the fabric.

The plaster walls would not support the hardware, so the poles were hung on the molding, an old-fashioned look that is appropriate for an older home.   The narrow rod profile and the short 2" pleat keep the installation in the right proportion for the molding.

Nightingale Valance

Over the years I've learned how to draft patterns for many window treatments, but when the designer wants a specific M'Fay valance, why re-invent the wheel?  Just get the pattern!
That's what I did when Suzie from Cottages 2 Castles asked for a beautifully detailed Nightingale valance. 

Although I own dozens of M'Fay patterns, this is one I didn't already have.  As usual, the instructions were clear and thorough.

Suzie added microcord at the top which really shows off the pretty cutout goblet pleat.

I love the two layers of embellishment at the bottom- a 3/8" bias contrast fabric band, and a bead trim on gimp above the band.



The pleats feature cutouts at the top as well as the bottom.

Before the pleats are sewn, a gathering thread is run and the button attached.







Then the threads are pulled tight and secured behind the button.

Because the welt was a different color, the very top of the pleat needed to be secured with a single tiny stitch of matching green thread, to close the back.

Little inverted pinches

Diane Satenstein loves to dress her rooms with flat panels- a more casual style for a home's less formal rooms.  We use 2" clear buckram in the header for sturdiness and fluidity, and make tiny backwards pinches.  That gives the pins something to grab onto, and makes the top easier to control.  Recently we installed this style in four rooms of a house that Diane has been working on.

Kitchen- a long window that goes nearly to the floor.

Exposed glass is maximized by using a button holdback.

In the master bedroom, interlined silk is pleated to pattern, though that's not too obvious in this photo!

I love this star-flower!  Fine quality silk is luminous with the sun behind it.

In the dressing room, unlined embroidered, incredibly sheer, silk organdy.

Exotic looking trim against that sheer defines the line of the lead edge.

In a teenager's bedroom, blackout shades provide privacy, and ultra-cool fabric provides fun.

This was entirely hand-sewn; and not as difficult as it looks like it would be.

Shadeology

People often want to make short shades to use only as valances, and they want to know what is the shortest they can get away with and still look like something. 
Here's an example.  Due to limited fabric availablilty, these shades came out only 28.5" long when flat.  Here is is pulled up to a spot that I think looks nice- about 17".

I wondered how short I could draw it before it looked silly.  Here it is at about 13"; if it did not have the topper it could possibly go up another inch.  But I don't like it that short.

When it was installed, the decorator split the difference.  The uppermost fold is a half-fold which gives the valance close to the look of a hobbled shade.  A great look for just a yard of fabric!

Fab Fabric Friday!

For a teenage girl with hippie aspirations-

The pink and black section was perfect for the flange.

This is my favorite style of sham- ruffled-corner flange.

This stripe just begged to become a bolster.

I had a hard time deciding on pink button or turquoise?

What I've been up to

It's 24 days since I last posted!....  I thought I'd better get up to speed on what's been happening around here.
We just sent out 48 widths of drapery, 8 roman shades, 4 windows' worth of swags and jabots, and one valance for a whole house project being installed today.  On Thursday I'll be delivering pillow, bedding, etc, and the furniture will be in place, so that's when I'll take my photos.
Meanwhile here's part of another order being installed today- this little cutie of a shade designed by SuElyn Chase of Cottages 2 Castles.

Quilted silk, banding of white faille, and glass beads.

 The top of the board looks as pretty as the shade.

Flaps with buckram hide the mechanism.





The banding is turned to the back and hand-hemmed, and the weight bar, concealed in a fabric tube, is tacked to the shade at the bottommost ring with the ends tucked into the banding.

Fab Fabric Friday!

Everyone else in the house got sick, and I smugly thought I was the lone holdout- until I realized I was simply the last man standing, but not for long.  I caught the cold on Monday.  I haven't gotten much work done this week!

Here is what we're working on now: a beauty of a fabric from Vaughn; here it is on the roll, but by next week it will be hanging as draperies in a bright, airy family room addition, accompanied by the lime and royal blue pillows made from the fabrics featured two weeks ago.

When we first rolled this fabric out for inspection we could see that the embroidered pattern ran off-grain by a too significant amount to join widths for flat panels.  The Vaughn rep, Deanne, graciously had it picked up and sent out to Griswold in Rhode Island to be stretched.  The variation was reduced to within about an inch, so it can be used for panels with a little fudging.  Instead of double width panels, just the centers of each width are used so the worst of the slant is removed; resulting in approximately a width and a half per panel.

These cheery fabrics are the pillows in this room: