Repurposing

The original two Londons.....

There is a lot of "re-purposing" going on these days!  and why not?  if you can re-use treatments that you love when you move, or for a different room when redecorating, you can save a lot of money on new materials.
Nicole Gray's client moved house, and we combined her two interlined London shades into one for her daughter's new room with a larger window.  We had just enough of the green fabric to make a new header; otherwise the measurements worked out just perfectly.  We were able to remove one contrast pleat, join the sections and the ruffled trim, and do a little nudging and fudging to make it fit the new dustboard.  It was all surprisingly simple.

Now they are one!

The kitchen in the old house had a smaller window and a larger window.  We had made Kingston valances mounted on small covered boards.
Now, the new kitchen has two same sized windows.  We took two sections off of the larger valance and added them onto the smaller valance, and Nicole raised the center sections on the sink window to fill in that awkward space above the top of the cabinets.  A little poetic license was taken to join the sections, but it turned out great.

London shades, pattern, and arithmetic

We had a wonderful opportunity to fabricate some valances for a blog reader in California!  She fell in love with some London shades she saw here; chose her fabric and trim; shipped it to NY; and we made them.

After the main body of the shade was assembled, with the microcorded contrast pleats and the bottom brush fringe, the header was created.   After the pleats were basted in place, the first row of welt was attached and the seam trimmed.

 The header was first glue-basted to ensure a perfect pattern match.

 Fusible buckram helped the header keep its shape.

The top row of welt was attached after the valance was stapled to the board.

The header was lined separately, more like a facing I suppose.  The back is nice and neat.

The big deal with these valances was mathematical.  It was important to match the pattern horizontally, across the swoop and tails; vertically, from the valance to the header; and most difficult, from one valance to the other.  The tails needed to center the same section, which at first seemed absolutely impossible.   However, in the end, after a lot of head-scratching and experimentation, I got those numbers crunched to my satisfaction.  Though there's a slight difference in the pattern on the small valance tails and the large valance tails, the eye is pretty much tricked into seeing it all the same.

I'm pretty happy with these valances! 

London shade with all the bells and whistles, and making a knife-pleated ruffle

I have been awfully delinquent about posting!- between hurricane Irene, a back injury, finger injuries (more on that later!), an early-autumn cold, and that freakish White Halloween storm, my ability to focus on writing has been.... fuzzy.
At least I've been pretty faithful about taking photos as I work.  Time to start catching up sharing recent projects with you.


Here is a beautiful London shade, with lots of goodies.

The top is stapled to the 3/4" side of a board, and the rope trim hot-glued to cover the staple ant-trail.

The fabric is a breathtaking Scalamandre silk Chinoise print, as crisp as a page of parchment, and the brilliant blue contrast is a soft, drapey Scalamandre moire- I think it must be a silk/cotton blend, but I"m not sure- no acetate here!   These are luxury fabrics that inspire awe just to touch.  It's a pleasure to work with such fabrics.

The pleats are made of 12" of blue moire, and micro-corded with the same.  The silk is interlined, but the blue is not- I was afraid it would add too much bulk, especially at the board line.

The microcord was sewn to the silk and interlining together.

Knife pleating and box pleating is easy with Rowley's pleating tape.

Just stick it to the overlocked ruffle strips before sewing, then fold as you sew to create the pleats.

There are different lines in different colors to create various pleat styles and sizes.  Once the strip is pleated, just peel off the tape.  I even re-used the tape to make the ruffle for the second shade.

This ruffle was 3" long, so I started the rings 3.5" up to be sure the ruffle wouldn't be hidden when the shade was raised.   

Opera Balloon Shade

I just love the drama of an opera balloon shade.  

I asked the decorator to wait til the installation was finished before coming into the room.  

When lowered, this shade is straight across the bottom like any ordinary balloon shade, but the special stringing method causes an opera shade to raise its sections to different heights.

So for the decorator we staged a theatrical curtain raising, and it got rave reviews.

Pleated balloon with header

These pleated balloons have separate headers, with lip cord in between and a loopy braid run horizontally across the center of the header.
This is a silk plaid which was railroaded in order to get the header out of the most appropriate section of the plaid.
It's interlined, and as you can see trimmed at bottom with a tassel fringe.
Though they will be used as stationary valances, we have strung them with a cord lock so the length can be adjusted on-site.
I don't see all of the treatments we make here in the homes for which they were created, because, as in this case, a lot of designers pick them up and arrange and supervise the installation.
I dressed these for the photo but dressing is NOT my strongest point!

If anybody wonders if blue is back, take a look at the trims I have sitting in my workroom for current jobs.  There was one more that I forgot to include.

The side hems on these shades were sewn by hand.  I took the opportunity to practice hand blind-hemming, although there was no need to use that technique here.  Once you get the hang of it, it goes almost as quickly as a slip stitch, but it does take practice.  

Wool

I'll admit it, I'm cheating, this is NOT what we're working on today.
These are treatments made from the most luscious wool I've ever had the opportunity to use.  It's "Bechamel" from Rogers & Goffigon, it is rather costly, and it comes very yummy colors.  This winter white is one of the best.  It is the drapey-est imaginable fabric!  The swags look like..... well, a satiny bechamel sauce.  Or molded butter.
We have a couple of clients about to use wool or wool sheer, so I have wool on the brain.  A wooly brain.
That's my justification for slipping in these oldies today.  These pictures are SO old, they are scanned PRINT photos (gasp!).  Complete with all the original smudges.
I think these treatments were made in 2002.
The swags are made a la Merrick and Day.  The swags are constructed with a unique point-to-point technique, and virtually none of the fullness is on the board.  It's all behind the horn & jabots.  The header is a separate piece, as are the extensions of the horn and jabots.
I can't remember who makes the trim, which manages to be sophisticated and whimsical at the same time.  It reminds me of little M & M's.
The valances and draperies are all interlined, and lined with an aqua dupioni silk.  Remember all that dupioni silk from those days??
There were tiebacks but at the time of this photo they hadn't been installed yet.
In the adjacent sitting room the same fabrics and trim are used for traditional Empire valances. 
Since these treatments were made we've used various wools for top treatments, draperies, and shades.  It is, to me, the ultimate luxury window treatment fabric.