Make-over

Here is one of four valances that we just made out of two pairs of draperies that we made about 3 years ago.  The client has moved house, and now has four windows in her daughter's room, so each panel of one and a half widths became one of these balloon valances.  There was just enough to allow for a ruffle for the bottom.
It's barely shirred- after it was hemmed the piece was only 75" wide to cover 54" of board (including the returns)- but the four-cord shirring tape gives the illusion of more fullness than there really is.  And they're interlined, which gives substance to the chintz.  The half-width seam is right in the middle of a pouf but it was well matched and doesn't show.
This style is very messy as an operable shade- it took a lot of dressing, and, I know, it could use a little more!  We used 54" in length of face fabric, plus the ruffle, to make these valances.  We tied up three rings and the valance is adjustable so it can be set where the decorator likes it.   I like it set here at about 30" long.

Cafe Curtains

Having fun with cafe curtains lately!
They're a great canvas for little details.
These four workroom samples are just the beginning- I've got more cut out.  They're fun to sew in the evening while watching baseball.

Shirred Top Drapery

The whole point of the various header styles on draperies is to control fullness.  Only rarely does anyone want a completely flat panel of fabric on a window.  If it is to have fullness, it must be contained somehow- hence, the pleat.
There are other methods, and here is one: shirring.
In this workroom sample, the gold silk is outlined in a rust microcording, a separate rust layer is added from the back, and the whole thing is shirred.  A two-cord shirring tape has been sewn and hidden- I wanted it to look as finished from the back as from the front.  
I would like to credit Heather Luke, an English curtain maker, for the inspiration for this curtain.  Her amazing curtains are all made by hand, and I wanted to develop a technique to achieve a similar look with faster methods so that I could offer it to my clients.  
(SHE doesn't use shirring tape!, and therefore doesn't need to hide it!)