Outside Mount Hobbled Shade

For outside mounted hobbled shades, I often like to eliminate the top fold and replace it with a flat topper, the same size as a fold, and wrap it around the ends of the board.

Without the topper, the length of the top of the shade is the equivalent of two folds.

There is still a row of rings for the top fold, even though it's imaginary.

When the shade is fully raised, the top fold looks nearly continuous with the other folds.  Because the stack of folds kicks forward, I do not strive to make them tuck under the topper- the bulk of the fold stack would just distort the topper.

If you prefer a "picture area" you could leave the top this way, and have a deeper flat section.  This could be perfect when there is a large motif.

The pattern repeat was 15", so we multiplied by 2 and divided by 3 to make every third fold match.  I think this attention to detail gives the shade a subtle orderliness.

I recently added a walking foot machine to my collection.

This type of machine feeds the fabric layers at different rates, so when you come to the end of your seam, the layers have remained aligned.  With a straight stitch machine, the top layer of many fabrics will "walk" forward as the seam is sewn, resulting in layers that are out of alignment with each other.  Velvet is one such fabric.  The shade fabric is a sort-of velvet- it has a pile, though it isn't high, and the layers did not slide with my new machine.

For the weight bar pocket, I was especially grateful for the walking foot machine.

When I got to the end of the pocket, everything was perfectly aligned!  With a straight stitch machine, it would've been a struggle to get them somewhat even.  Those days are over!  More on the walking foot in future posts. 

Hobbled shades: ribs, no pockets

Several designers I know really love hobbled shades, so I've been making them regularly for years.

I used to dislike making them because the old way required sewing horizontal rib pockets.  The stitching lines had to be heavily pinned for the pockets to turn out well, and that meant ending the work day with scratches, stab wounds, and gouges in our arms and abdomens.  Right?
Also, it's not easy to sew straight lines.  More often than not, the lines want to distort during sewing; and later the ends have to be closed tightly to keep the ribs in.
There are other annoying steps to making a hobbled shade the old way, but the real clincher is, I think they just look cluttered, like this:

So...... over the past 2 years I've been experimenting with ways to eliminate the pockets and other unnecessary steps, and improve the look of the shade.  I have several methods I like now.  In my favorite version, I place ribs inside the shade, and with a three-step process I simultaneously tack in the rib, attach the tape, and sew the ring.

As I work, the shade piles up on my lap, but the pins are gone at that point, so I don't go home with wounds!

 

The result is a perfectly neat shade without those tightly stitched pocket ends I used to hate making so much.  If you're wondering about the safety standards, this shade was shrouded with ring locks during the stringing phase.

The side view reveals a sleek silhouette with no pinched pockets.

Hey, I wanted to point out something else.  For the arched part of the window, we made a wood frame and stretched a single layer of batiste over it to provide a little privacy and light filtering.  The shape was somewhat uneven, so a microcord of ivory fabric helped fill in any small gaps.