Shaped goblet pleat drapery

I'm at a loss to know where to begin the story of these draperies and sheer shades for a 19th century farmhouse near the Catskills.  I guess I'll just plunge in.  I might divide this into two posts, we'll see how long this gets.  

Shaped goblet pleated panels were fabricated from Palais Garnier, a 125" wide Trevira brocade from Nobilis.  You might remember this project from this post about the mockup- a full-size panel out of the actual fabric, with 4 different lining options, and variations on the header details.




The Pierre Frey poly crinkled netting, Annabella, is fantastic in the sun, blue in one direction and brassy gold in the other.   In the top photo it appears more blue; here more brassy.  The shades are very full at the bottom, with a small tuck in the center.  The board and weight bar are covered in fabric that matches the woodwork paint color.












I'll start with the drapery panels.  The client loved the look of goblet pleats, and as the design concept developed, she decided on 6" deep pleats with a cutout tulip shape.  This mockup also convinced us that a solid microcord was necessary to define the edge since the fabric is a little bumpy. 

Having a 125" fabric for the face that was not a sheer was a first for me.  It made it easy to calculate yardage.  The horizontal repeat is 20" so that allowed 10" for each pleat + space together, with alternating motifs on the pleats. 

I made a pattern for the header and used it for all the panels.  After laying out all three fabrics, I traced the pattern and cut it out, inserting fusible buckram cut to fit only the spaces.

















Careful pinning kept the layers together....

 so that I could flip the panel and apply the gold silk microcord.  It's hard to believe that during fabrication of 7 pairs of these draperies, I forgot to take a picture of the process of sewing on the facing, but suffice it to say that it was torturous, sewing all the curves and points!




One pair of panels were for a French door.  I thought that since guests would be going in and out of these doors every time the homeowners entertained, the back side of the lead edges that showed through the glass should have a nicer finish, so I put a lip cord into the seam.

That's all for now, more about the sheers next time :)