Hybrid shades

These are the widest I've ever made this hybrid shade, a cross between a London and a relaxed shade..  London shades droop too much in the center to be used on wide windows, but with the addition of a lift line in the center section, the long point is controlled.
If this style had a center pleat, it would simply be a balloon shade with tails, or a double London shade.  

This woven upholstery weight fabric is French blackout lined.
The railroaded fabric is pattern-matched at the pleats.  With a 14" repeat,  that is a LOT of fabric in each pleat.
These shades are quite heavy, but stationary.  Their success lies in the beautiful dressing at the installation.

Another Hybrid Shade

There is a collection of photos here that I probably wouldn't have ever amassed if it were not for the self-imposed pressure of blogging.  Many of the decorators I work with carry a laptop, iPhone, or iPad and refer to the blog for inspiration or illustration photos when working with their clients.  The homeowners like seeing photos from the workroom that will actually make their treatments.

The hybrid shade at the top was created to solve a specific design need, and the photo of the original helped another decorator visualize a way to cover a similar wide space with a relaxed silhouette.  This shade is part London shade, part relaxed Roman, 66" wide, and will be used as a valance.

Hybrid shade completed

A couple of weeks ago I posted a picture about this shade.
The client didn't want long tails and we discussed various ways to control the tail length.  I got a lot of good suggestions from my CHF Forum friends.  In the end, the decorator chose to have the sides tapered to reduce the volume in the tails.

The rings are 16" from the sides so we tapered in 12" so the inside of the tail drops only 4".

In this mock-up, the left side shows the tails before tapering; the right side shows the tails pinned up.

These shades are going in very tall windows facing a busy street, and though the shade drops to 68", the client is always going to keep them at about 45" long.  The bottom row of medallions are placed quite low but in context they will be closer to eye level.

A Miscellany

Here is a collection of recent projects.

The first picture is my very own hybrid: a flat Roman shade, ribbed in back, with relaxed Roman folds over a straight bottom.  We wanted the bottom straight so the relaxed folds didn't pool on the shelf and also so the bottom corners would not be uncovered.  I've never seen a shade like this anywhere else, so as far as I know, I invented this myself!

If you're interested in how this is made, I'll do a separate post about it.  Let me know in the comment section at the end of this post. 

Imperial valances with jabots, self microcording

          Kick pleated valance in adjacent kitchen bay window.

  

Remember these pillows?  Here they are on a campaign bed, with the tapestry hanging.

Another "winter trees" shade- it just never gets old!

Calvin Klein sheer, Roman shade

Self-lined, hand-sewn.  This reminded me of fine Madras.

Ocean Wave Shade

This shade is the embodiment of island serenity.
The face fabric is bamboo, a cellulose-based fabric made similarly to rayon with the same lazy, drapey fluidity.  To protect the fabric from the damp salt air, the shade is lined with nylon shower curtain lining.
Four-inch interrupted back tucks stitched horizontally across the width of the shade create the "waves."  The rings and lift lines are positioned at the tucks.  
You can't see from this picture, but the ceiling is angled.   A dustboard holds the lift lines as usual, mounted where the wall meets the angled ceiling, and in order to allow the fabric to come up to the ceiling, a board is secured at right angles to the dustboard, the top edge first being trimmed at an angle to follow the angle of the ceiling.  I think there is a word for this but I can't think of it now, on Friday afternoon!

Relaxed Ribbed Roman?

There's no telling how the text and photos are going to arrange themselves on this post- I don't have much control over where they wind up!
Anyhow, here is phase one of an installation; the second room's fabric is backordered so this is going into the family room tomorrow.

The draperies, lying on the table, are interlined; lined with a special blackout lining along the lines of Apollo; portiere; tassel-trimmed; and pleated with two-finger Euro or top tack pleats.
The swag and jabots looks kind of forlorn in the back hallway, but dressed in its window it'll look fantastic.  I am not real big on pleated swags, but gathered swags are right up my alley, and also I enjoy making them.
The shade is something really really great!  It's a ribbed flat Roman shade with a relaxed bottom.  It goes up & down like a charm, and the relaxed part never needs dressing since it's fixed.  I think this is going to become my new signature shade.

Pattern Layout Challenge

Here is a beautiful Brunschwig & Fils print that is intended to become shades of some sort.
The decorator's first intention was to make London shades, but it doesn't seem like the best way to use this pattern.

There are two windows, of two different sizes- one is 40-something, and one is 60-something.  We can play with the finished sizes a bit to accommodate the pattern somewhat.

Here are 3 styles we're considering for this fabric- or yet another hybrid version, as yet not dreamed up.  All three of these shades were made in the past year or two for our clients.