Nerves of steel, or reckless abandon?????

I can't decide which trait is more valuable when cutting a $400/yd Rubelli silk. Nerves of Steel? or Reckless Abandon? Boundless Self-Confidence? or Blind Faith?

I'll be back soon, I promise!!!!!  These last 2 weeks have been extremely hectic!  But I just downloaded a couple hundred photos so I've got stories to tell and pictures to go with them.  See you soon!

Best of Houzz 2015

Hey!  we were awarded Best of Houzz 2015 for Customer Service!!!!!

Two trims, two designers, some pretty valances

Funny how some fabrics and trims make multiple rounds through the workroom.  Even odder how some arrive at the same time from different decorators for different applications!

On the left, these two trims were layered to make one, and hand-sewn to Empire valances.  For a different designer, in two different rooms, the blue on the top right is a darker version of the lower left lighter blue and it was used on London shades, and the same raffia ball tassel was sewn into the seam on a valance.
I worked on all of these treatments at the same time, and they were installed within days of each other!
The doubled trims were first machine-joined.

The ensuing trim was first glue-basted to the valances, above the self-microcord, and then I went back and hand-sewed it both top and bottom edge.

The hand-sewing was necessary to keep it really flat along the microcord without any awkward buckling.

The valances are Empires, gathered instead of pleated, with horns that extend out and widened so I could make a sort of goblet pleat, dressed with buttoned Maltese crosses.

For the other designer, the raffia ball tassel was set into the self-lined flat shaped valances, so the tape doesn't show.

I'm not sure but this might just be the prettiest thing I've ever made.  The silhouette was based on a Moreland valance, but we flattened it out, joined it to its mirror image with a center pleat, and added stripped-down tails.  It doesn't get much prettier than this, in my book.

The blue tassel trim was applied to two classic London shades.  I can't believe I didn't take a close-up!  Also I didn't document the process of laying out the pattern- but the shades are drawn up so high that it doesn't even matter that I sweated over pattern layout!  Oh well.

Odd coincidence, huh!?

Christmas Gift Pillows

Happy New Year!  It's been nearly a month since I posted- December was hectic- so I thought I'd better hit the reset button and calm myself down.  I took a break from nearly everything, and here I am today, ready for the new year.

For my first post of 2015 I've been chomping at the bit to feature some printed silk pillows I made as gifts.  These  were more fun than it's possible to put into words.  I brought them home just so I could photograph them under the Christmas tree, before sending off to their recipients.

The small center pillow was made from a greeting card which I received.  The moment I saw it I knew it had to become a pillow, so I scanned it and printed it onto silk, then had a blast deciding how to put it together and embellish it.  The people depicted on the card are actually the senders, one of whom did the amazing artwork.

There was a lot of trial and error, printing and scanning onto a variety of printable fabrics, before I finally got it  printed onto silk with a color saturation close enough to the card. 

Once I had a print I was satisfied with, I fused the silk to white lining, then fused that onto the pillow face fabric.

Then the fun began.  I rummaged with abandon, digging out treasured bits of trims before settling on this combination, which I hoped was just bad enough to be good.

It was a hit!

I used a similar technique to print one of my own photos onto silk- sunset over the Hudson River from Croton Point.  The color has been barely manipulated, just enough to enhance the turquoise and blue to blend with the beautiful watery silk strie face fabric.  A little braid frame echos the creamy sunset colors, and vibrant turquoise baby corduroy microcord completes the embellishment.

The baby corduroy came in handy for the Eiffel tower pillows too.

For a Paris lover, I ordered from Spoonflower these two Eiffel tower photos printed onto a cotton-silk blend, then backed the fabric with plush napped cotton sateen.

They're backed with a soft charcoal colored linen and welted with that turquoise microcord.

 

Also from Spoonflower I found a great Dr Who print- the Tardis in Van Gogh's "Starry Night."   One yard made two, one apiece for two Whovians.  A little more rummaging through the trim treasure bin yielded this black popcorn fringe that is just silly enough.

And there you have it, Christmas gift pillows!