The rest of the scarf project

The scarf pillows were just half of the project.  Three other scarves were destined to become wall hangings.  The challenge was to find a way to mount them without losing the rolled borders or the fringe.

I painstakingly sewed a doubled lip out of matching cotton, so close to the rolled border that the stitches didn't show.

The cotton was pressed crisply......

......and stapled around to the back of a narrow, covered board, turned on its side.   The rolled hem stands up above the board line.  The board will be mounted to the wall with screws.

The same technique was used with this scarf so we woudn't lose the lime green rolled hem.

For the fringed scarf, the lip was sewn 1/4" below the fringe in hopes that the turquoise fringe would stand up after the lip was stapled.

It worked!

More pillows!

Designer scarves make amazing pillows!  We always line and interline silk pillows, or use napped cotton sateen.  This Gucci scarf made a 34" pillow.

It's backed in silk and is welted with extra-micro welting.

We wanted to preserve the fringe on this scarf, so I topstitched it to a silk back creating a teeny-tiny flange.  There is an invisible zipper on the back, up a couple of inches.

I folded this scarf in half so we wouldn't cut off the handlebars on the center bicycle motif.   Of course you can't see the handlebars anyhow unless you're looking sort of from the top......

Trio of Coordinating Shades- on-site photos

Yesterday I visited the home of the three adorable shades designed by SuElyn Chase of Cottages to Castles for a gues suite, and blogged about here.  We had a little tweaking to do and I had a chance to photograph them in their new element. 

The London shade with contrast inserts and buttons: 

My own favorite, the puckered faux-silk Roman with banding:

And the gathered, ruffled balloon, in a stairwell very high up:

Fab fabric Friday- Enter the Dragons, again

Here again is "Enter the Dragons" in a muted, stormy colorway, interpreted this time as boxed pillows.  The various borders were sliced off and turned into bottom detailing and boxing.  Each 23x28" pillow has a different border combination. 

The welting and backs are the same velvety grey ultrasuede that was used to upholster the 132" sectional seating. 


The moment our zipper order arrived from The Zipper Lady, we finished these pillows up.   The grey was nestled in a boxful of brilliantly colored zippers........ now I just need somebody to order a magenta pillow, I'm ready!

"Enter the Dragons" from Jim Thompson was featured in January on Fab Fabric Friday, and as pillows.

Kingston variation

The client showed us a picture of a Kingston-style variation that was shirred instead of pleated, so this is what we made for her- five of them, actually:

I used to struggle with top welt.  While sewing and stapling it I'd fight to keep it from twisting.  Then I read a tip from Merlyn on the CHF Forum and my life was changed forever: I don't sew or staple anymore- I use double-sided adhesive tape, and now my top welts are smooth and unwarped.

Adhesive tape is run along the front of the board.

The welt strip is laid over the tape, then another row of tape goes on top of the welt strip.

The welt cord is positioned at the edge of the board, letting just a little of it touch the sticky tape to hold it in place.

Then the welt strip is carefully rolled over the cord and secured to the adhesive.

Now it's ready to be stapled, all in one step with the cardboard tacking strip and the dustboard cover.

Now I enjoy applying top welt!

Improvising to add blackout to an existing shade

For a new baby's room, the homeowner wanted to add blackout to the Roman shade we made last spring.  Of course, it HAD to be an arched top shade with rib pockets in the lining.... no simple fix here.

The shade was 54" finished width and the fabric was just 55" and the homeowner did not want it seamed.  So when it was originally made, we pressed the selvedge under just barely, and slip-stitched the lining to it- which worked just fine.  However, the quilty face fabric had shrunk an inch, so now the lining came right to the very edge.

To add blackout, we had to take out the stitching, lay in the blackout, and slip-stitch it back together. We kept the ribs in the pockets and re-sewed rings with ladder tape.

Because of the shrinkage I was afraid to take apart the weight bar pocket, so the inserted blackout went to the top of the hem, and then on the outside I glued on a 4" strip of blackout that went to the very bottom and covered the raw edges with gimp. 

The shade had shrunk vertically as well as horizontally so we just scrunched it forward on the frame to make it longer.  Since it's an inside mount with drapery panels over, luckily the horizontal shrinkage hadn't mattered.

Here's the back view of the arched frame made with Firm-a-Flex.

Zipper Inventory Day

Holy cow.  Pillow orders are flying in fast.  Another Pillow Day is scheduled for next week, and today is Zipper Inventory Day.  I am dangerously low on some of the most frequently used colors, like sage green and tan.

You'd think with all these zipper colors I'd be sure to have something to match every fabric- but not so.  Now that The Zipper Lady has new colors, I must have them.  I've placed an order for 25 zipper colors, 11 of them new to me.  I'll be able to match even the weirdest greens and grays- not to mention neon orange and magenta! 

Meanwhile, here is a peek at 3 new dragon boxed pillows just waiting for grey zippers and then they can be stuffed:

Pillow Day

We had Pillow Day last week.  For some reason pillows come in waves.  I might go a month without a single pillow, and then accumulate orders for two dozen pillows in one week.  When that happens, I have Pillow Day.  I cut all the pillows at once, arrange them by thread color, and hold a pillow marathon.  Last week I had 26 pillows to make. 

Here are 10" x 20" pillows- the solid pillows are boxed with a 2" boxing, and the woven pattern pillows are knife-edge. 

Inserts for boxed pillows are custom-made.  For these 2" x 10" x 20" pillows I ordered inserts at 3" x 12" x 22" in 10/90 down/feather.  It looks like they'll never fit into those covers, but they do!

A Trio of Coordinating Shades

Three interlined shades, for various rooms in a guest suite, are tied together with lime green fabric and glass bead trim.  This London shade as well as the headboard feature a Thibaut print.

The lime green contrast inserts and buttons link it to the balloon shade in an adjacent area.

No,  the balloon shade is NOT all lop-sided, it's just the way it's angling back for the photo!

The ruffle shows off the bead trim, and ties it to the cute little hallway shade.  The ruffle is 3.5" deep.  The first rings start 6" above the top of the trim to be sure the trim won't be hidden by the voluminous swoops of fabric- this shade is 68" long when fully lowered.

It can be tricky putting welt on a treatment that is shirred onto the board, but in this case I leveled the top by using two layers of cardboard tacking strip- one layer under the welt, and another layer on top of the welt.  All layers were adhered with double-sided adhesive tape, and stapled only after all layers were on.

Everything is pulled together in this little hallway shade, with lime green banding and glass bead trim over a neutral, puckered faux-silk.