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. 

Grey velvet swags, installed!

I'm happy to say that the grey velvet swags were successfully installed today!  Thanks to Danny at Fabric Factory Outlet for sending me his photo.

I've made a variety of arched treatments before, but once I began making this, I realized that I had never actually made arched SWAGS.  Thanks to the excellent instructions in Ann Johnson's books on swag fabrication, I was able to draft these swags perfectly on the first try.

The side swags were pretty tricky.  I read the instructions a dozen times before starting.  I've made asymmetrical swags, but never with an arched top.  It was fun!

The face of the board was covered in grey lining....

.....and the outward-facing part covered in white.  The horizontal board is there to help the frame stay put; it was removed after the arch was installed.

I marked the arch with masking tape in 1/2" increments so I'd have symmetrical reference points for each side.

 The reference points allowed me to go back and forth and make small adjustments evenly on each side.

The side swags were attached first, starting with the flat section.  When stapling mirror image swags, I do both together, one pleat at a time, so they can be pleated the same way.

It was pretty thrilling to see the pleats to fall into shape almost immediately!

I used cardboard tack strip to even out the center where the pleats stack up.  After the center swag was stapled, I flipped it back and filled in the gaps with little pieces of cardboard, then secured it all with hot glue. 

Actually the hot glue made a good filler too.  I wanted the top curve to be sleek.  Once the glue cooled, I trimmed it smooth with scissors.

To shape the jabots to the frame, I made a little paper mock-up of the jabot silhouette and cut the shape of the frame.

After the jabots were pleated (using my Parkhill jig), I cut them to shape, leaving a board allowance for the returns and first pleat.

Since the jabots followed the frame precisely, they were easy to attach to the face.  Only the return and part of the outermost pleats were stapled up onto the dustboard; the rest was attached to the front to reduce bulk.

It didn't seem likely that anyone would climb up and see the raw edges, but I covered them will twill tape just to be safe.

The dustboard cover was stapled just behind all the tack strip build-up which shaped the top.  It's fun to staple it on then flip it over right side up!

It's a wrap!

Another bit on basting

This was a single pillow project for Cottages to Castles; a gift from Suzie to the homeowner.  The mission was to center this beautiful embroidered elephant piece in a field of velvet.

It was up to me to decide: I could applique it onto the velvet, or add mitered borders.
Because the edges of the piece were uneven, and cut so close to the embroidery, I thought I'd do a better job if I turned under the least tiny bit I could, then applique it.
Also, I didn't like how I thought the nap would behave if I tried sewing the velvet on the diagonal.

To stabilize the piece on the velvet, I considered fusibles, sticky tape, and pins, but hand-basting won out.  I started basting as a quilter bastes a large quilt: in an X shape, from the center out to the corners.
After basting around the perimeter, I stabilized the vertical edges further with this stitch shown below, which I know has a name that I cannot remember- I wanted those horizontal stitches to fight against the tendency of the fabric to slip along the velvet nap.

All that basting kept the elephant perfectly in place.  I used the tip of my snippy scissors to help ease in while sewing.

After applying self-welt I decided to have a go at sewing front to back with just pins.  I wasn't sure if I'd need to baste the seams, too.  It took more pins than usual (well, usually I don't use pins at all on pillows) but it sewed up just fine.

It took extra time and care, but, everyone was very happy with this big pillow!

The Big Pink Monster

I like to launch project stories with a dramatic "after" shot, but in this case, I don't have one.  I will someday, but I want to write about this project now.   I'm going to tell this story sort of backwards.
I was asked to fabricate a treatment for a 10' high space in a rather grand 19th century home.
The space was measured previously and the dustboard assembled, for a five-sided bay area.  The frame I was given  was pretty big- about 4' high when standing on end, and about 12' wide at the front.  My job was to make a Kingston valance out of rose-colored velvet with jabots, self-decking on the back, and tassel trim sewn IN.

 I started making a bunch of sketches, because the biggest design issue was what to do with the outermost sides which were only 13" wide.  With half a horn in the corner and a full horn and jabot on the end, the remaining 6" would leave room for only a tiny, weird swag.

I thought it would be better to put a half swag on that short outer leg, and eliminate the usual horn, letting a jabot finish the end.  The designer asked for a jabot that could have some pleating on the return edge since that would be facing out into the hallway.  I suggested the beautiful Bordeaux jabot- my FAVORITE jabot!

I had thought a leg might be necessary to support the half-swag, but after the pleats were tacked by hand, the vertical edge stayed plumb.

Have you ever cut a dark velvet on a fabric-topped table?  Last time I did that it was red velvet and it was a year ago and there are still red fibers in the fabric table cover.  This time, I used a rotary cutter on a plastic-topped gridded table.  That kept the lint to a minimum and away from the fabric table!  I used an M'Fay Kingston pattern, lengthening it for a 22" long point.  And I was able to stack-cut, keeping the stress on my hands to a minimum.

The designer wanted only the tassels to show, not the trim's tape.  I really fretted over sewing the trim INTO the seam with velvet on both sides.  I considered basting it on by hand but then I tried glue-basting, not expecting it to work- surprise, what a breeze that was!  The glue bonded almost immediately.  I glue-basted both layers with the trim in between, then took it to the machine, where it sewed up smoothly and did not walk or pucker at all.

Time to staple the valance, and I was so grateful it was a Kingston and not an Empire.  With a Kingston, all the hard work is done before stapling: joining the pieces, turning, securing the folds and forming the horns- when the valance is large and heavy, it's an arduous process, but then it's relatively easy to staple.  With an Empire, the sewing is pretty simple, then all the hard work goes into stapling.  I covered the boards and marked them, then worked my way around, moving the valance as I went to get the area I was working on into the open space so it could hang freely.

The installer worked his way around the valances, dressing swags as he went.  It was a big success!

I was reminded of a sweet Kingston valance I made about 5 years ago- out of a rose-colored taffeta- which I loved then and still do.

Relaxed Roman with Dog Ears

Here's a beautiful, clean, serene Relaxed Roman variation for a NYC apartment.
There is no fullness: the lift lines are set in about 8.5" to create drooping dog-ears.
Translucent interlined white silk is banded with 3/4" of yellow velvet.
This shade is about 70" wide, in case you're wondering about proportion.

To keep the layers from shifting, first I hand-basted the velvet to the 3 layers before machine sewing.

After sewing with a scant 3/4" seam, I rolled the velvet over and hand-sewed it to the back.

More Miscellany

It's been an unusual week here, with lots of small projects, a few things we hardly ever make, and a lot of desk work.  Oh, and, hey, the driving!



It's hard to believe that pillows and cushions were my bread and butter for some years, because now arthritis makes cushion making very painful.  Sewing cushion covers is not too bad as long as the fabric isn't too heavy, but cutting the foam and stuffing the cushion is almost out of the question.

In a moment of weakness I agreed to make these chair pads.  But they turned out so nicely that I didn't even mind.  Instead of ties, these have brown snaps.

These grey velvet pillows are as soft as a kitten, and the inset pleated linen banding is a nice rustic contrast.

The trim is hand-sewn.  A quick trial on the machine demonstrated that the nap of the velvet made the trim "walk" when sewing down the nap, and "drag" when sewing up the nap.  It was pleasant, relaxing, rhythmic sewing.
  

1 1/2 width panel- all pleats the same

1 width panel- 1st, 3rd, 5th pleats same as larger panel

In a happy coincidence, the pleat spacing on this asymmetrical stripe worked out perfectly for a width-and-a-half pair of pinch pleated draperies.  Pleating on pattern is more important to me than whether the drapery fits or not!- because, well, you can always make it fit, by making it more or less full, but if the fabric isn't pleated on pattern it just doesn't look good to me.  And since these are side panels only, the exact finished width is not that important.
For the single width panels, the same pleating wasn't an option.  I compromised by making the pleats and spaces a little smaller, and centering every other pleat the same as on the larger panels.  That left two out of the five on the alternate stripe, so the single width panels are consistent with themselves and have at least some consistency with the other pair.