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SO.........WHAT ARE WE WORKING ON TODAY??

Monday, December 10, 2018

Exercise in efficiency: one dozen bay window valances

Here's what has been keeping the workroom occupied!- a dozen bay window valances.  The woven medallion patterned fabric is fire-retardant with Silky Diablo fire-retardant blackout lining.
I pulled out every efficiency process, method, and technique I've ever developed, to streamline getting these valances cut, sewn, and mounted.   A full bolt of fabric was sliced into 65 cuts, and another full bolt of lining was sliced into railroaded strips.   Then each section was trimmed to size and the valances assembled.  Of course none of the windows were exactly the same size!  The new walking foot machine eliminated the walking and puckering that would otherwise result from sewing cross-cut face fabric to railroaded lining.
I think I spent 8 hours just ironing. 
Creating a mounting space is the biggest challenge, so we wanted to get all of them stapled in one go, so we could get the workroom back to normal asap.
We used a combination of stands to create a stable space.
 I was lucky in that all the boards were cut and delivered to me!  John assembled them then covered the undersides with lining, in preparation for stapling the valances..
These all were hinged in the center to make them easy to transport.













We asked Merrill Y. Landis to fabricate the 206 single width panels.  They're a great company to partner with!  Here's about 10% of the panels, ready to be loaded.  This was an adventure!