Hobbled shades: ribs, no pockets

Several designers I know really love hobbled shades, so I've been making them regularly for years.

I used to dislike making them because the old way required sewing horizontal rib pockets.  The stitching lines had to be heavily pinned for the pockets to turn out well, and that meant ending the work day with scratches, stab wounds, and gouges in our arms and abdomens.  Right?
Also, it's not easy to sew straight lines.  More often than not, the lines want to distort during sewing; and later the ends have to be closed tightly to keep the ribs in.
There are other annoying steps to making a hobbled shade the old way, but the real clincher is, I think they just look cluttered, like this:

So...... over the past 2 years I've been experimenting with ways to eliminate the pockets and other unnecessary steps, and improve the look of the shade.  I have several methods I like now.  In my favorite version, I place ribs inside the shade, and with a three-step process I simultaneously tack in the rib, attach the tape, and sew the ring.

As I work, the shade piles up on my lap, but the pins are gone at that point, so I don't go home with wounds!

 

The result is a perfectly neat shade without those tightly stitched pocket ends I used to hate making so much.  If you're wondering about the safety standards, this shade was shrouded with ring locks during the stringing phase.

The side view reveals a sleek silhouette with no pinched pockets.

Hey, I wanted to point out something else.  For the arched part of the window, we made a wood frame and stretched a single layer of batiste over it to provide a little privacy and light filtering.  The shape was somewhat uneven, so a microcord of ivory fabric helped fill in any small gaps.