Installation Day.... or... Insulation Day

As promised several weeks ago-- here are my friend's shades, installed!  Just in time for our current cold spell- it was 5 degrees at 7am.  These are insulated with interlining and Thermasuede. 

Snow Day

            We woke up this morning to an unexpected flurry of snow.  The forecast was for a dusting.  Traffic in the tri-state area was congested for hours, so I decided to go to work later in the day.  It was a perfect time to take out my crochet project.
I haven't crocheted for a LONG time so I picked up this book, "Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs" by Edie Eckman and decided to tackle one motif a day.  That hasn't worked out quite that way; some days I do none, and other days I do three or four.
My goal is to make a throw with no two motifs the same- a freeform crochet project.  When I have enough, I'll join them- somehow.  
Since I'm at home, I can't upload any photos of the wool or my dozen or so completed motifs, because the little wire for my camera is at work.
I have a wonderful palette of yarns, mostly bought at the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival, held every October in Rhinebeck NY.  Two of the merino wools are from sheep I actually met!- sadly I misplaced the paper on which I wrote their names.  They each are the natural brown of the animal. 
Besides the browns, I have several reds, one cotton and one merino; a pea green; a deep teal mohair/silk blend; a variegated brown-red-rose; some green-blue-violet silk ribbon; a variegated red nubby cotton; and a few novelty ribbony yarns.
My motifs are not coming out quite like the ones in the book's photos- but they're getting better.  If there is a step I don't understand, I just alter it to something simpler that I can do.
And THAT is why I chose a free-form project!

A whole lot of l-o-n-g shades

I see I haven't posted since last Friday- but not because we haven't been working- au contraire!- it was Long Shade Week as you can see from the picture of a bunch of shades in various stages of readiness for delivery.  Three are balloon shade valances the longest of which is 103"; one is hobbled with Rollease 90" x 80"; and two are flat blackout romans with reverse mount Rollease 100" x 80". 
On Monday the storm knocked the power out here at the studio for much of the afternoon.  The blackout shade rings are all sewn on by hand, so we really didn't lose too much time thanks to the long wall of windows here- there was enough light to sew by hand.   Hurray for (s)low-tech!
There are a number of techniques for creating custom blackout window treatments; the technique chosen for the two blackout shades is Bella Notte Classico blackout lining, hand-sewn rings to make the smallest and fewest needle holes, and "goop" painted onto the holes to minimize light bleeding through the holes.  Yes, "goop" is the official industry name for the gloppy blackout paint that is supposed to fill in the needle holes!

Fab Fabric Friday!

Look what arrived today, just in time to become the Fab Fabric Friday pick of the week.  This warm, lovely silk will become window treatments one day soon.

The red draperies and shades were installed today, and much to my disappointment, I did not have time to get to the installation and see them myself.
These were a LOT of work and a lot of fussing, as well as a lot of decision-making.
The bullion trim on the lead edges AND the hem is the reason for all the indecision, plus the fact that the fabric is a pretty heavy upholstery fabric, meant to go on a sofa.
The hem had to be faced as well as the lead edges, and because they were being tied back, I wanted to be sure the white lining would not show.
In the end, I chose to put a 6" false hem of the red fabric at the bottom of the lining, rather than encase the lining in a hem facing.  I was afraid that one or the other of the fabrics might sag or shrink, causing the panels to not hang freely.
The top picture shows the lead edge trim and facing, the lining with the false hem, and the bottom trim with the hem facing tucked under everything.  The middle shot is the beautiful lead edge corner.  And at the bottom, the two-finger French pleats.
There are two windows with hobbled shades, as well.
Perhaps I'll have a picture from the decorator to post later.

Look Ma, no foot!

A lot of our sewing is done by hand, but certainly not all.  Rings for shades are sometimes sewn by hand and sometimes by machine, depending on the fabric, whether the style of the shade will hide the stitches, and how much our backs and hands hurt that day.  And sometimes a project just must get finished, and the sewing machine speeds up the process somewhat, though less than you might think.
Anyhow, today's shade rings are being sewn by machine, and for some reason I haven't gotten to the bottom of yet, the needle keeps hitting the foot.  After fiddling and testing and altering and fussing, I decided to try sewing without the foot - - - -  it worked!  another AHA moment!  The foot just gets in the way and slows things down.  It's completely unnecessary for sewing rings.  Who knew.

Winter Trees shades

While packing these shades up for delivery this morning, I remembered that I hadn't ever photographed them finished.  I love this shot, taken at the front door of my hallway, for the 4 winter tree images- the fabric with sun shining through it, the fabric without sun shining through, its shadow on the wall, and real winter trees outdoors.
You can see that this fabric is quite sheer yet an effective screen.  It seems so delicate but is really pretty tough- it's a blend of viscose, linen, and poly.
Hand-sewing it is kind of like trying to sew a tree, it's that tough.  The only machine stitching on these shades are the two rows forming the pocket for the weight bar.  
This is the first shade we've made using the new EZ-Release rings by Rowley.

Soundtrack

This fabric was definitely in the running last week for Fab Fabric Friday pick of the week.
The photo captures neither its fluidity nor its brilliant hue.  It's a deep crimson ottoman fabric, that is, a horizontal-ribbed plain weave, with ribbing of two different colors and textures: the flat rib is rust and the raised rib is crimson chenille.
The effect of the two colors interacting is entrancing- the color changes with every viewing angle and it looks molten.
It sheds a gruesome blood-red dust all over everything and I'm afraid the lint is embedded in the canvas table top.  Every time I look at my hands I think I'm bleeding.
I've been laboring over this fabric for hours, paralyzed with indecision about how to construct the project.  If there were a soundtrack to my day it would be a loop of The Clash singing "this indecision's bugging me."
Someday if y'all keep reading this I'll figure out how to add a button you can click on so you can hear the theme song of my work day.
A couple of weeks ago I was making a bunch of hobbled shades.  The way we make them here requires a lot (LOT) of pinning.  If you went to summer camp you might have learned a song called "Swimming swimming in the swimming pool."  Well, I spent that day singing to myself, over and over, "Pinning pinning in the pinning pool" til I thought I'd drown.
On Sunday I was crocheting, attempting something I had no business thinking about making due to the disparity between its complexity and my woeful skill level, and one step required picking up a stitch which I dropped every time.  Yeah, you know my theme song for that day- "you got to pick up every stitch- must be the season of the witch-" ricocheted around my brain til I went to sleep.
Anyhow, I have one more decision to make about this project in order to proceed tomorrow. 
I can't bear to bore myself, or you, with the details today!  But if you're a D and D Pro Forum member you might have read about my dilemma on the forum.  Sorry I've imposed on you in two venues today.  The decorator for this project is heartily sick of my indecision and calling with every new fabrication idea.  Everybody else, be thankful you don't have to hear about it at all!