Shirred Top Drapery

The whole point of the various header styles on draperies is to control fullness.  Only rarely does anyone want a completely flat panel of fabric on a window.  If it is to have fullness, it must be contained somehow- hence, the pleat.
There are other methods, and here is one: shirring.
In this workroom sample, the gold silk is outlined in a rust microcording, a separate rust layer is added from the back, and the whole thing is shirred.  A two-cord shirring tape has been sewn and hidden- I wanted it to look as finished from the back as from the front.  
I would like to credit Heather Luke, an English curtain maker, for the inspiration for this curtain.  Her amazing curtains are all made by hand, and I wanted to develop a technique to achieve a similar look with faster methods so that I could offer it to my clients.  
(SHE doesn't use shirring tape!, and therefore doesn't need to hide it!)

London Shades

A few weeks ago I showed this beautiful Brunschwig & Fils print that was to be used as shades, and we spent no small effort thinking about what style would best show off the pattern.
As the fabric comes off the roll, there is a center stripe filled with squiggles, about 6" wide, flanked by two floral stripes, and finished with half the center filled stripe on each side.
We wanted to make London shades, not too full.  One window was a single, the other a double.
For the single window, if we used the fabric the way it was printed, the floral parts would have been pleated and we thought the interruption of the pattern would be wrong.  So we split off half of one floral stripe and joined it to the other side so the new width had the floral in the center, and half a floral on each side.  The pleats landed in the squiggly stripe leaving half of it exposed.
The other window was too wide for a single "scoop": it needed two.  We left the fabric as it came off the roll, added on to each side to achieve the right width, and put a small pleat in the squiggly stripe as well as on the sides which, by luck, turned out nearly exactly the same as the sides of the smaller shade.
I think these shades turned out exactly perfectly.  The pleats are small- less than 5" in each pleat- but give fullness without too much volume.  
This bedroom is in a magnificent older hilltop estate, a home filled with wonderful detail and decorated with a tasteful collection of antiques.  I'm sorry to say I don't have photos yet of the draperies we made for two other bedrooms- I hope I can post those soon.  Those fabrics were equally spectacular Brunschwig & Fils prints.
Next we hope to have an order for the master bedroom, and perhaps the living room and dining room.

Peace like a river

A busy busy crazy day,  lots of driving, talking, thinking, waiting, and more driving.

My river.  End of day.  Peace.

The lights of Haverstraw viewed from Croton Point.

A peaceful piece of work at Spirit Cloth, click here
 
Tomorrow, back to sewing-

Fab Fabric Friday, back again this week

I really wish you could touch this- it's velvet!  Printed velvet- even the background.
And guess what, it's MINE!  A gift from a friend, about a yard and a quarter.  
Spring is nearly here- it's beautiful out- and I'm done for the day, other than a delivery or two!  Have a nice weekend everybody (though I might be back here before Monday).

Relaxed Ribbed Roman?

There's no telling how the text and photos are going to arrange themselves on this post- I don't have much control over where they wind up!
Anyhow, here is phase one of an installation; the second room's fabric is backordered so this is going into the family room tomorrow.

The draperies, lying on the table, are interlined; lined with a special blackout lining along the lines of Apollo; portiere; tassel-trimmed; and pleated with two-finger Euro or top tack pleats.
The swag and jabots looks kind of forlorn in the back hallway, but dressed in its window it'll look fantastic.  I am not real big on pleated swags, but gathered swags are right up my alley, and also I enjoy making them.
The shade is something really really great!  It's a ribbed flat Roman shade with a relaxed bottom.  It goes up & down like a charm, and the relaxed part never needs dressing since it's fixed.  I think this is going to become my new signature shade.

Inverted Box Pleat

Well, my apologies for the crummy photos.  I had the opportunity to show these two very different applications of inverted box pleats but no time to set up any sort of shoot for them, so here we are.
The top shows interlined silk, inverted box pleats to normal 2 1/2 times fullness, as well as contrast microcord and yummy silk tuxedo buttons.   The rings are sewn on, but the panels could be hung the rings with drapery pins.
The bottom shows very tiny inverted box pleats on an unlined sheer with 2" translucent buckram in the header.  The pleats on the sheer are there just to control the fabric on what are essentially flat panels;  they provide a good place to place the drapery pins so they'll be hidden.
The technique is exactly the same but what a different interpretation!
The bottom picture shows both examples from the back side.  There are a number of ways to finish an inverted box pleat, but I like the stitch-in-the-ditch method because it flattens the pleat out, provides a place for the pin, and gives some control. 

Portiere Draperies

This week has been busy with a job that is almost ready to be photographed.  There are several components, one of which is Portiere drapery panels.  These photos illustrate our portiere fabrication method, which has been used on the draperies that haven't been photographed yet.
"Portiere" drapery, traditionally, is heavy draperies hung across a doorway (derived from French "porte" which means door).  The fabrication method takes into account the fact that they are seen from both sides... there is no "back" or "wrong side" and therefore a regular rolled side border is not appropriate.  The lead edge of the drapery needs to be "knife-edged" or "pillowcased" and may or may not have a trim.
Nowadays "portiere" might refer to any drape where the lead edge is made this way rather than rolled and blind-stitched, even if the drape isn't going into a doorway.  Usually the lining is a decorative contrast fabric.
What bothers me about portiere draperies is when the fabrics gap away from each other at the lead edge, which might happen because the fabrics don't cling to each other, or because of the weight of trim applied on one side.  I wanted to find an attractive way to secure the lead edge to prevent that.

We devised a fabrication method for draperies with top-sewn trim that yields a beautiful edge on each side.  The face fabric is rolled around to the back about 1/8" and "stitch-in-the-ditch" topstitched.  The tassel trim covers the topstitching on the face side, and on the back there is the illusion of a microcording.  This method has been effective with a variety of applications.  The photo shows a workroom sample we made as a show-and-tell for clients.
The seamstress needs a good eye and a steady hand to topstitch perfectly!  No extra caffeine til the sewing is done.
I must mention here that the only song I've ever heard that contains the word "portiere" is Warren Zevon's "Disorder in the House."