Tuesday, March 2, 2010

An exercise


Here is a silk drapery panel we recently made as an exercise and to use as a workroom sample that can be borrowed.
The flounce at the top is pieced with a narrow banding at the top and the bottom.   The lead edge border is pieced, and is bound on each side with microcording.
I am making samples in order to test some ideas I've had bouncing around, as well as to experiment with fabrication techniques.  Also to make mistakes, so they can be corrected before the style is made for a customer!
With this piece I made a few mistakes.  The flounce is pieced in an awkward spot.  The bottom of the lead edge, which you can't see, was a challenge as I had to make the pieced and corded border first.  I wound up encasing the Napped Lining in the hem, a technique that doesn't work well unless you do it properly, and the result is that the silk sags a bit at the bottom.  Since this is a sample, I think I'll chalk it up to experience, and leave it!
All the samples will be lined with different linings and methods.  I wanted one sample to show silk without interlining.  This panel is lined with Classic Napped lining, which is suitable for this light-hearted panel.  But for a serious drapery treatment, silk really should be interlined.
The piecing is a little bit of magic, the secret to which I won't reveal just now- it's a technique stolen from circa 1985 patchwork quilting.

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