Wool and grosgrain draperies

Oh, my poor blog and blog readers, I've been so neglectful.......
Well,  I have this project to show off: hand-sewn interlined wool top tack draperies with grosgrain trim, for Christopher Robert Matson.  Did I take even a single photo during fabrication?- No!  I did not.  This was a tricky job and all my concentration went into making it, not documenting it.  Now I'm sorry.

Wool from Elizabeth Dow was a dream to sew with its thick, forgiving weave.  With additional layers of lining and interlining we chose to use a low-bulk header so the pudgy 3" 3-finger top tack pleats would not have too much bulk.

I wish there were a perfect method for applying grosgrain ribbon.  Unfortunately it's usually a choice between less than optimal techniques.  Applying anything to wool is a real challenge.  In this case the first step after joining widths was to fuse the ribbon to the wool with Sealah tape, which came to just below the top of the trim to give a teeny tiny space for the hem stitches.  Blue painters' tape marked the side and bottom hemlines, thanks, Scot Robbins! 

Christopher asked us to duplicate the style of the original sheer, unlined curtains, including the cutouts which accommodate the molding.

On installation day we were excited to be delivering these luxurious draperies to this Upper East Side flat in our new pink garment bags from Wawak!  Thanks, Merlyn.....

We took down the original curtains and hung the new ones on the existing rods.

A minimal amount of steaming was all this amazing wool required and the pleats dressed wonderfully.

In another room, a similar wool and trim were used for side panels and a scalloped kick pleated valance.  The beautiful cotton batiste sheers disguised the asymmetry of the space.