Occasionally I've referred to the book "Anatomy of a Swag" by Ann Johnson, and I think I did so most recently when showing you the Turban Swags we made out of a gold stretchy jersey-like fabric, but I must mention the book again because I've had two orders for the swags known variously as bustle swags, drapery swags, or point to point swags.
For the very first swags I ever made, I used the excellent patterns by M'Fay, for board, pole, and bustle swags. Eventually I realized I needed to learn how swag patterns were drafted because I had more complex situations where ready-made patterns did not fit, such as these silk stripe swags that had to finish a specific width and length that was not available in a pattern.
At the time, I could not afford the fancy template system that I coveted, so I purchased Ann's book, which had come out just in the nick of time for me!- and studied, studied, studied. Now I can draft patterns in no time, to fit any circumstance. Here you can see the muslin mockup I made for eight striped silk swags.
Something that makes my heart go pitter-patter is nice finishing. For the interlined silk I bound the pleats in the rose.
For this black and gold damask, I cut identical binding strips centering part of the medallion motif. I doubt that anyone but me will ever realize they are all carefully bound, identically, but I can always look back at this picture and smile.
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