Shower curtain fever

This is a funny business.  I haven't made a shower curtain in at least 3 years, and this week I made 3.
Even weirder, they are all in the same palette: soft gray-brown with orchid.  Hey, wait, isn't orchid the color of the year?  Guess what, these aren't the only orchid fabrics I've got in the workroom right now.  More later....
Anyhow-
Shower curtains are a great place to have fun with interesting details.
Monica Plotka's shower curtains were two full widths each, with small inverted pleats on a 2" band.  The floral had a 3" ruffle inserted in between; for the stripe, we ran the pattern horizontally.

These were extra-long- 95"- the old 72" x 72" standard side seems to be a thing of the past. 
















I was glad to have a reason to pull out my Johnson ruffler.  I really enjoy making ruffles.  They seem to come in clusters, too.  Maybe more ruffles are on the way.

The grommet press had a chance to see some action, too.  I searched high and low to find an antique brass grommet to work with the beautiful shower curtain rings.   They were available from GoldStar Sewing.  The grommet press is the special domain of John.  I'm not really allowed to use it.

Fullness was controlled in both curtains with small inverted pleats.  2" translucent buckram in the bands prevent drooping.     

Remember these incredible mock hobbled cornices we made for Katherine Stern's client?

A shower curtain and valance were needed for the adjacent powder room, and  Katherine wanted to carry through not only the fabric but also the style of the cornices.  We created a rod pocket valance that mimicked the folds.

It definitely took longer to figure this out than it did to make it: a simple tube, lined and interlined, with a single line of stitching to create a pocket for the spring pressure continental rod.

The curtain and valance were a huge hit and looked great.  Sorry about the glare from the flash.......