Ripple to Pattern

Once Pleat-to-Pattern draperies became an industry standard, Ripple-to-Pattern wave draperies were soon to follow, thanks to a variable wave tape developed by Forest Group. 
This graphic drapery, recently fabricated for Denise Wenacur Design and Decor, illustrates perfectly the striking effect possible when rippling to pattern. 

A few weeks later we used the same technique to fabricate geometric ripple-to-pattern for Cottages to Castles, installed by Scott Berniker who kindly provided photos.

All ripplefold begins with the rod.  We template the master carrier by fitting translucent snap tape to the actual hardware, using a fabric stapler.

 

This ensures a perfect fit on installation day.

We make a template of the header and plot out the placement of the pattern.  I make sure to include every detail during this step.

The header template is one reason to always order a little more fabric than the project strictly requires.  With the widths joined on the template, we can be sure the seams fall to the back of the ripples rather than show on the front.

After the drapery is on the table, we align the template to be sure everything is where it should be.

In our workroom, we prefer to fabricate with no stitching visible on the front- a huge change from the old way in which one of two rows of stitching were considered inevitable.

Our method for fabricating begins with a lock-stitch (basically an interlocking stitch which itself is actually a long, loose blanket stitch) to hold the lining and face fabric together, just past the crease on the heading side.  

Translucent 2" Dofix buckram is fused right at the crease line.

Easy-flex tape from Forest Group is secured with a narrow strip of Jewel tape down the center.

Our template show exactly where to position the 3 snaps.

The doubled heading is folded under, and the Easy-flex tape is staple-basted on both sides, through the heading only.

The ends are finished neatly (and hand-sewn after the tape is applied).

The header is opened up flat, and the Easy-flex tape is sewed on both sides.

All that remains is to hand-sew the ends, and insert the Easy-flex Hooks.

The only thing that varied between the two projects: the orange drapery is blackout, and we did not use buckram, concerned that it might not fuse securely.  Instead, we opted to hold the header down with a double-sided adhesive tape.

Did you read all the way to the end?  One thing that really super thrilled me, for the second time ever, I made pleat-to-pattern draperies AND a shade for the same room!  If you're a workroom nerd too, you'll totally get it :)

Tale of a Bunny Tail Trim

What a perfect combo- this Sanderson bunny print "Dune Hares," and soft grey "Strata Marabou" trim from Samuel and Sons.

This fuzzy brush fringe has tape on both sides, and I had no idea how to apply it.  I tried a few different ways, including attempting to baste it on by hand, all with dismal outcomes.

However, thanks to our marvelous workroom network, after posting an inquiry I got enough suggestions to cobble together a process I felt comfortable with, and started out with some confidence.  If I had to use this again, I might try another method, but for my first time, this is how I did it.

Before I began to sew, I had to satisfy my curiosity about the name "marabou."  First, a "marabout" is a west African Muslim ascetic and teacher.  A "marabou" is a sub-Saharan stork whose hermit-like habits I presume gave inspiration for the term for the reclusive saint.  The feathers of the avian marabou were used in fashion- think Mae West in a boa, or that fluffy, feathery trimming on high-style garments.  Nowadays you can buy fake marabou feathers or marabou trimming made from turkey feathers from places like Walmart.  And in home dec trimmings, the term seems to have expanded beyond feathers to include fluffy, bushy trim from any material- such as wool or silk, or in this case, poly/viscose.
Back to the bunny pillow.  I sewed the two layers of tape together- and I still am not sure if this is how it's intended to be applied!- but this is how I started.

I sewed it to the pillow edges with a skinny foot.  I know, I know, I know about using a cording foot with the cord down and the fabric on top- but this is how I did this.

I put right sides together and sewed around the perimeter- not too close.

I turned to the right side and used the edge of a scissor to pull out fringe fibers that had gotten stuck in the seam, and then I could see how much further in I needed to sew.

I sewed again from the other side of the pillow, still with the skinny foot.

THEN I switched to a cording foot, turned the pillow over one more time, and sewed from the other side.  This last go-around did the trick.   I'm sure you wonder why I didn't begin with the cording foot.  Well, I feel that I could not have sewn the trim effectively if I had just started from this point- I feel that I would've gotten too much fiber caught into the seam.  I could be wrong, but this is the method I used and I'm sticking to it.

There was no way to sew a zipper to this, so I sewed the pillow closed by hand. 

It was tough sewing, and it took about four times longer than a normal pillow, but it turned out great!

Laser level saves the day!

Double-wide fabrics are designed to be run sideways for draperies, with the selvedge running at the top and the bottom of the drapery.  This eliminates seams (not that I have anything against seams- sewing seams is how I earn a living!), and with sheer fabrics the absence of seams is a blessing.
This particular pattern is created by heat-setting pleats which, when the fabric is used as intended, run in wavy vertical lines.

But the client wanted to run it the other way, running the wavy pleated lines horizontally.  I suspected this could cause trouble if the heat-set pleats stretched out from the weight of the hem.  And unfortunately, the rep for this fabric company insisted on stating, incorrectly, that the pattern is "woven" and gave the client confidence that she was making a good decision .  I had misgivings about the outcome, but accepted the project.  (Go ahead, say it!  I should trust my instinct!)
To be sure I was cutting on grain, I pulled a thread which provided a cutting guide.  The fact that the grain line didn't follow the pattern proved that the pattern was not woven.  But, anyhow.

Since the fabric was run off the roll instead of railroaded, it had to be seamed to achieve the required width (thus obviating the advantage of the double-wide fabric!).  We French-seamed the cuts by serging them wrong sides together, removing the selvedge in the process:

Then completed the French seam by turning the fabric right sides together, sewing to encase the serged edges.

A small bottom hem was turned and blindhemmed with chain weight inside. 

The tops were pleated with what we call a butterfly pleat: a 4" long pleat, tacked right in the middle.

So, we hung these up in the workroom to see if they would hang straight. 
Well, guess what.  See for yourself:

So this is how we spent a Sunday afternoon.  After letting them hang overnight, we took out the hem and the chain weight.  The hem could barely be pressed because the heat-set pleats would come out.  We didn't see any point in trying to re-table them, since that had already turned out to be unreliable.
So, we set up our laser level on the vertical post of a rolling stand.....

and hung the curtains back up and allowed the laser to indicate a level line.....

 

and I stumbled and crawled around behind the curtain to pin-mark a new hemline as best I could:  And this took a long time, because, naturally, the fabric moved every time I tried to mark it.

 I re-hemmed it, without the chain weight and hung it back up- and ta-da!  It was level! 

We left it hanging overnight again, and it still was hanging level the next morning.  The draperies were installed the following week, and to my utter amazement, they fell exactly where they were supposed to and have held their shape!

 

Topping off the Roman Shade

We use toppers for Roman shades under a variety of circumstances, from utilitarian to aesthetic.
Crosstown Shade and Glass requested reverse mount for these shades: the shade falls off the back of the mounting board, allowing the bead chain loop to hang conveniently in front of the inside-mounted shades.  A topper hides the mechanism, and the grommets that route the lift cords to the front of the shade for rigging.

There plenty of methods for making toppers.  In this case, we wrapped 1/4" hobby wood with blackout fabric and interlining before covering it with the face fabric, so these toppers are thin but rigid, and slightly padded.

The wood doesn't come in the size we needed, so we pieced it together.  This topper had to be about 7-8" long in order to hide the grommets that route the lift cords from the back of the shade to the front, where the reverse-mounted lift system is located.

During preparation, double-sided adhesive tape secured the linings.

The shade is rigged and strung before the topper is made, because, for one reason, once it's on, the shade is hard to hang for testing.  We used the Rollease traversing clutch- an industry tried-and-true- because it offers the most versatility.  The bead chain loop was specified to hang 2" in from the end, and with some other systems this would push the outermost columns 5-5.5" in from the edge- too far, in our opinion.  The outer columns on these shades are about 3" in from the edge, and ribs in the folds keep the sides from drooping.  In case you're wondering, these shades are blackout, made with our own no-pinholes-of-light fabrication technique.

Another reason for making the topper after the shade is mounted is so we can be sure we match the pattern to the shade body.  The third reason is to be sure the topper is long enough to hide the grommets.  Sometimes in the workroom we will raise the shade up to the height of the window to double-check what that length should be. 
The topper is nail-gunned to the board face, then the fabric wrapped to the top of the board.

I am pretty thrilled with the pattern match!  And, of course, I love the pleat-to-pattern of the folds :)  Are we tired of that yet?!?

Fine Cotton-Linen Sheer Roman Shades

As promised- here are the beautiful sheer cotton-linen shades made for Crosstown Shade and Glass.  The fabrics, from Flat Vernacular, were provided by the homeowner, who wished us to feature specific areas of these asymmetrical prints.

I started by laying the fabrics out on the table and looking down on it from a stepladder to get a good picture of the design and how best to cut it......

,,,,,guided, as mentioned, by the homeowner's notes.

These shades were lined with super-sheer voile, to keep the ethereal glow of the prints.  Voile seems delicate but is actually quite tough, and with my ring-sewing method, the stress of the stitch is borne by the voile, relieving the stress on the face fabric.

For one side hem the selvedge was used in order to keep as much of the saturated area as possible.

It was fun to scrounge through my extensive thread collection to find the right colors to use in different areas of the pattern.  Yeah, I said fun. 

I don't know if there's a name for this knot.  Because of the sheer lining, I used this method to be sure the knot would never pull through the fabric.  After taking the stitch, but before pulling it tight, slip the needle through the loop below the knot....

.....and gently pull it snug.  Now the knot cannot slip through the fabric.  After this step the ring is sewn, taking stitches only in the voile.

The pink shade had a lot of colors so I used even more threads- all different types, chosen on the basis of color.

 The top of each shade was basted at the board line before moving the shade from the table, and trimmed to the board size.  This step prevents any shifting of layers while transferring the shade off the table.

The resulting shades were just as beautiful as I had imagined they'd be.

 The light really affected the look of the pink shade once it was in the window.

 

This is inevitable with a sheer lining and a deeply saturated print, something to keep in mind when working under these circumstances.

These shades were a total success and one of the most satisfying projects of the year.

t

Not ghosting!

It has come to my attention that I have not posted for over 2 months!  People are starting to check up on me.  Yes, I'm fine and I'm definitely not planning on ghosting you!

It has been a busy time with work, family, and planning a complicated class for CWC-19.
But also, I do a fair amount of work that I cannot post here or online anywhere, and when I'm in the midst of that, I get out of the habit of organizing my thoughts on what I normally do write about. 
Watermarking the images I post is a fairly tedious process, and we've all hear awful stories about stolen photos, so I'm careful about protecting not only myself but also my designer and the end client.  Often lately I haven't have time to sort and watermark images, so the story must wait.  Busy is a good thing, though!

The CWC class I'll be teaching with my friend Jennifer White covers roman shade lift systems, and I've been learning so much.  Interestingly, I had some actual orders requesting some of the systems that we needed to learn about, which meant I got to learn and then get immediate reinforcement!  As I start catching up on posting here on the blog, some of those projects will make an appearance.

Meanwhile, I've tried to be diligent about doing quick posts on my Facebook page, and my newly created (and nearly immediately neglected) Instagram account.  But those are visual platforms, and not good outlets for the kind of fabrication reporting that I like to do here on the blog.  This remains my favorite place!

During this unintended hiatus, I've gotten a lot of emails from readers who have sent photos of projects they've done based on techniques they've learned from this space, and that makes me happier than you could imagine.  I'm thrilled that my ramblings here have been helpful to new workrooms who are learning the business, or DIYers decorating their own homes, or seasoned pros just looking for inspiration for a new method.

Thanks to you who have been concerned and have checked up on me!  That is the sweetest thing of all.
Stay tuned- this station has not gone dark!

Here's one of the beauties we completed recently- this is a cotton-linen-blend sheer by Flat Vernacular- a dream to work on!  Story to follow.