Tips and Tricks: Custom Drapery Sewing Like the Pros

Faux London Shade Valance, Interlined, with In-Seam Bead Trim

These days, I send most of my clients' drapery projects to my wholesale drapery workroom for fabrication, but when I was first starting my business I sewed all of them myself and I still do small window treatments and accessories like throw pillows for clients occasionally.  My workroom experience makes me a more successful designer, because I have a much better understanding of how things are made and how different fabrics and trims behave than designers who don't sew. You will never see me bringing an upholstery chenille to my workroom, asking them to make it into a swag valance!  Since I had just gotten my new sewing machine right before this order was approved, I decided it would be a great first project on my new Bernina 750 QE.  Remember how I was neurotically matching this large-scale botanical bird print fabric a few weeks ago with the help of my machine's dual feed feature?  Now that the drapery valances are finished, out of my studio, and installed in the client's home, I thought I'd share a few tips and tricks for achieving professional results sewing window treatments at home on a domestic sewing machine. 

Rule #1: Beware Drapery Panels!  I know what you're thinking.  Drapery panels are easy -- they're just rectangles with hems on three sides and pleats at the top!  The problem is that they are HUGE rectangles that have to be cut perfectly straight and perfectly square.  If you cut them crooked, they are going to hang crooked.  For a 102" finished length drapery panel, you will be cutting your fabric into 118" lengths.  Single width panels tend to look very skimpy at the window, even if they are just stationary side panels and not operable, so you will need to seam at least one and one half widths of your 54" wide drapery fabric together for each panel.  Now your rectangles measure approximately 80" x 118" (for 1 1/2 width panels) or 107" x 118" (for double width panels).  A professional drapery workroom has huge padded work tables to accommodate projects of this size without anyone having to crawl around the floor, "tabling" the drapery panels to measure for an exact finished length.  Considering that drapery panels are among the most economically priced custom window treatments to have professionally made, I strongly suggest you leave the panels to the pros.  Believe it or not, the more complicated looking valances or "top treatments" are much more manageable to make at home because you will be dealing with much smaller pattern pieces.  My longest cut lengths for these shade valances were 48", so I was able to roll my fabric out on two side-by-side 3' long utility tables, which were clamped together from the bottom to prevent them from moving apart as I was working.

Cutting 54" Wide Drapery Fabric on TWO 72" long Tables

Rule #2: Stay Away from "Big Four" Pattern Company Patterns!  Trust me, that gorgeous swag valance you saw in Veranda was NOT made with a McCall's Home Dec pattern!  I recommend M'Fay Patterns because they include excellent instructions and detailed yardage guidelines.  Pate-Meadows Designs has some pretty window treatment patterns as well, but they tend to be more complicated and, unless you're planning to make your pattern exactly as shown in the picture, it can be much more difficult to calculate how much of each fabric and trim you will need to complete your project with these patterns.  I didn't use a pattern for my valances, because I've made treatments like this many times before, but M'Fay London Shade pattern #9316 would be very similar.

I know people love to see "before and after" pictures, so here you go!  My clients had recently purchased this home when I met with them, and they wanted to get rid of the previous homeowner's window treatments and paint colors in this kitchen:



Client's Kitchen Before: Dark, Heavy and Dated.  And no, that isn't my Starbucks on the counter...

Here's my design proposal for the client (below).  The old treatment, which spanned from window to window across the top of the French doors, felt heavy and oppressive to me, and emphasized the width of the room while visually lowering the ceiling.  I proposed treating the windows individually with mock shade valances mounted above the windows, just below the crown molding, to open up the space and add a splash of color without that visual weight, and to display decorative plates in the space above the French doors.  

My Design Rendering Showing the New Mock London Shade Valances

Eleria in Graphite, from Robert Allen

This young couple wanted an updated, more tailored look that was elegant without feeling fussy, in a color palette of warm cream, pale blue, with darker wood tones and fixtures. The wife really loved birds and already owned quite a few accessories with botanical or bird themes, so the Eleria linen print fabric from Robert Allen was perfect for her.  The wall color is Sherwin Williams Macadamia, SW 6142.  I've used that color several times before; it's a great neutral that works with a lot of fabrics and doesn't go too gray or too yellow on the wall.

These are called "mock" or "faux" London Shade valances because they are inoperable -- they do not go up and down, and they do not even have enough length to go up and down.  The fabrication of fabric shades is very similar to that of drapery panels, with your decorative face fabric, cotton flannel interlining ( to prevent too much light coming through and washing out your fabric), and a cotton sateen drapery lining sandwiched together and blind-hemmed at the sides. 


Blind-Hemming the Shade Panel Sides

For blind-hemming interlined drapery or shade panels on my Bernina 750 QE, I used Blind Hem Stitch #9 with my #5D Dual Feed Blind Hem foot, just like I would use to hem a pair of slacks.  Since I'm dealing with three layers of fabric and a lot more bulk for a drapery panel, I reduce my presser foot pressure, increase the stitch length to 3.0, and adjust the stitch width to around 4.0-4.3.  It's important to test the stitch width on a scrap sandwich of your actual drapery fabric, lining, and interlining, folded back just like the hem on your actual project, to determine the correct stitch width.  If your stitch is too narrow, you will just catch the lining and your interlining and face fabric will not be secured.  If your stitch is too wide, you will see a big ugly stitch on the right side of your hem.  It's crucial that your thread is perfectly matched to the predominant color of your main drapery fabric for the blind hem.  If you don't want to do a blind hem by machine, your other option would be to hand stitch the hems.  NO top stitching!  If your fabric is any kind of a velvet, hand stitching all of the hems is mandatory.

Kravet Strie Ball Trim in Platinum

Because some of the lining is going to show at the bottom of this type of shade, I cut a 9" deep facing for each shade from my main drapery fabric.  I used a Kravet wrapped bead trim for these shades, which I inserted in the seam at the bottom of each panel so only the bead balls would show, not the header -- I think that looks cleaner and more current.  It gives the illusion that each little thread-wrapped ball was attached individually to the shade.  So the bead trim was basted across the bottom of the shade on the right side, with the trim header entirely inside the seam allowance and a LONG basting stitch to reduce the likelihood of puckering (I think the dual feed helped with this as well), and then the facing strip was sewn to the bottom of the shade, RST.  Then the facing was wrapped around to the lining side of the shade, raw edges pressed under about 1", and STITCHED BY HAND to the lining, just like invisible applique, to hold it in place.  I did not want to take the chance that machine blind hem stitches might go through to the interlining or face fabric, even if I attempted to set my stitch width so that only the lining was caught in the hem, because if the three layers stretch or contract with changes in humidity I would get dimples on the front of the window treatment anywhere that a stitch happened to go through all three layers.  If you absolutely cannot bring yourself to stitch this by hand, I suppose you could use that Steam-A-Seam stuff to fuse it instead if you're sewing something for your own home and you're deathly allergic to hand sewing.  I was doing this for a client, so I stitched this by hand with tiny, invisible stitches, thinking ahead to the applique projects I'm planning for later this year!

At this point, the sides and bottom of the shade valances were finished, but I still had raw fabric edges at the top.  I stitched 1 1/2" down from the top for my board line (used to precisely position the treatment when it came time to staple it to a fabric-wrapped dust board), and then I serged the raw edge for a clean finish with no frayed edges.

What next? More hand sewing!  Little white plastic Roman Shade rings were hand stitched to the back of the shade at the sides and in the center of the pleated areas, at 6" intervals, using an off-white jeans thread (for strength) that matched my linen fabric perfectly, going all the way through all three layers.  It took about an hour to an hour and a half to measure, mark placement, and hand stitch the rings for each shade.  It would have taken MUCH longer if this was an operable shade, because then it would have had about three times as many rings going down the length of each shade.

Some people like to stitch their pleats at the top of these shades prior to board mounting, but I like to make the pleats as I'm mounting the valances so I can make any necessary adjustments to get the fabric taut, but not pulling, in the flat sections.  I mark the top of the shade at the center point, and I make little marks at the center of each pleat.  I make corresponding pencil marks on the top of my fabric-wrapped board at the center of the board and at the center of each pleat, and then I staple the center and ends of the valance to my board.  Next, I create each pleat and staple it in place, and then distribute additional staples as needed along the top of the boards.  Additional fabric wraps over the top of the stapled valance edge so that the top of the valance looks neat and tidy, which is especially important in those situations where the tops of the dust board will be visible from above, as in two-story vaulted ceiling great rooms, etc.

Once the board mounting process was completed, I gathered those rows of rings together and secured them with a larger clip ring to form the soft gathers at the bottom of the shade.  Done -- finally! 

Finished and Installed!

I love how these valances turned out, and more importantly, my client was thrilled with them.  Pardon the mess in the photo, by the way -- ordinarily I would have cleared off the table before taking pictures, but it was an early morning installation and we were rushing so my client could get her children to preschool on time. 

This project reminded me of one of the most important reasons that I continue to occasionally sew some of my clients' window treatments: Every time I do, it takes me at least three times as long as I expected it to, and I realize once again just how much time, labor, and skill goes into every successful drapery treatment.  My drapery workroom is a tremendously valuable resource, and knowing that they can skillfully execute any design I dream up is crucial to the success of my design business, as well as to my own sanity.  Because, when I'm sewing window treatments for clients, I don't get to do ANY of my own projects, and I completely lose my favorite hobby for the entire time that a client's project is in progress.  Sharon and Debra, if you're reading this -- the next one is coming your way!

This week, I need to finish that Dresden Plate quilt for my neice's 5th birthday on MARCH 10th.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone!

Rebecca's Tips for Sewing In-Seam Rope Cord Trims

If you're looking for a quick decorating fix for your home, you can't beat decorative throw pillows.  Since pillows use so little fabric, they are a great place to splurge on fancy fabrics and trimmings without breaking the bank, and they are not difficult to sew. 

In the Samuel & Sons ad above, all of the top-applied ball fringe trims have been hand-stitched to the pillow covers, and that is absolutely the way any high-end drapery workroom would apply trims with a decorative header.  The rope cord trims, on the other hand, have a twill tape or knitted lip attached to the cord so that they can be sewn successfully by machine.  I don't do a lot of this type of sewing anymore, but I made an exception recently in order to deliver a set of throw pillows to one of my favorite design clients before the holidays when my drapery workroom was backed up.  I know a lot of home sewers have difficulty achieving professional results with decorative rope cord trim, so I thought I'd share a few tips and tricks of the trade.

Kravet Frontier fabric, Habaneros Colorway

When I'm making a throw pillow, I cut two squares of fabric to the size of my pillow insert plus 1", to give me 1/2" seam allowances on all four sides.  I round off my corners slightly using a corner template from M'Fay Patterns.  Next, I like to overcast the raw edges of my pillow top and bottom pieces on my serger, especially when I'm working with a difficult fabric like this one from Kravet -- it has an intentionally wrinkled, puckered surface, and the little motifs that appear to be embroidered are actually a jacquard weave, leaving long floating strands of thread all over the back side of the fabric.  Once the edges were overcast on the serger, this fabric was totally well behaved throughout the rest of the project.



Ruffled Rouche lip cord from Robert Allen

When you're selecting your decorative rope cord, you can save yourself a lot of headaches by avoiding those that are very stiff and/or large diameter.  Why?  Think about it.  You're going to use a zipper foot to try to sew as close to your cord as possible.  If your cord is a rigid 5/8" diameter cylinder and you're sewing it against the flat bed of your sewing machine, there is no way you can get your sewing machine needle to stitch right up against the cord because the cord rolls inward onto the lip in order to lie flat.  With that kind of cord, I just machine stitch as close as I can and then supplement with hand stitching from the right side (after turning the pillow right side out) to ensure the cord is hidden.  With the Ruffled Rouche cord trim I was using for this project, I was able to push it and smoosh it out of the way sufficiently that no additional hand sewing was necessary.

Now, 1/2" seam allowances are standard for home dec sewing, but the header on my rope cord was a lot narrower than 1/2". If I just lined up the cord lip with the edge of my pillow top, my seam allowance would be too small and my pillow cover would finish too large.  I attached the seam guage to my zipper foot, set at 1/2" from the needle, and used that as a guide for my pillow fabric.  Then I just smashed the rope cord trim up against the left side of my zipper foot as tightly as I could as I stitched the trim to the pillow front.  Oh, and I did use a longer stitch length for this, to reduce puckering. 

Cord Ends Unraveled and Woven Together, Ready for Stitching

I should also mention that, when I start sewing on a rope cord, I try to stop and start in an inconspicuous place, on the bottom of the pillow between the corner and the start of the zipper.  I leave the first few inches of trim loose as I begin stitching, and when I get all the way around the pillow I leave a few inches of trim loose to overlap the starting point.  I carefully unravel the trim at both ends and weave the two ends together (this is easier with some trims than with others), pulling the yarn tails into the seam allowances and flattening them as much as possible.  Then I simply stitch across the yarn tails to secure the cord join.

Stitching Across the Yarn Tails to Join the Cord Ends

After Securing the Joined Ends, Trim the Yarn Tails Even with the Seam Allowance

Ta da!  When this pillow was finished, it was impossible to tell where the cord join was.

A few more tips: After I sew the cording to the pillow top, I insert my invisible zipper and then I sew all the way around to secure the pillow front to the pillow back, right sides together.  Then I flip the pillow over and sew around the perimeter again from the opposite side -- this helps get even closer to the cord.

Unfortunately, I was rushing to get these pillows delivered to my client and I forgot to take pictures of the finished pillows once they were stuffed.

Embellished Readymade Play Tent Fit for a Princess



Customized Land of Nod Play Tent

I should be packing for Paris right now (as my husband reminds me every 5 minutes), but I just had to share this project one of my clients recently completed for her granddaughter.  The green gingham play tent is a readymade item available from Land of Nod here for $129.  This is what it looks like right out of the package:

Land of Nod play tent

I designed a cute flower power awning valance for the window in this little girl's bedroom incorporating playful trimmings from Samuel & Sons Passementerie, and suggested embellishing the readymade tent with coordinating Gumdrop Button Border and Dolce Pom Pom tassels to liven it up, tie it in with the bedroom color scheme, and give it a more custom look.  Although my drapery workroom is handling the valance fabrication, my client decided to apply the trimmings to the tent herself.  Doesn't it look fabulous?  She did such a great job, and the little princess who lives in this room was so proud to show it off to me. 

1.5" Gumdrop Button Border in Fruit Punch, Samuel & Sons

The trims used on this tent are available exclusively through the design trade, but you could get a similar look using pom poms, wide grosgrain ribbon, and multicolored plastic buttons available from your favorite local or online fabric retailer (it would just take longer to sew all those buttons on individually).  Adding trim to readymade window treatments is a great way to get a custom look on a budget, especially for young children's bedrooms that you think you'll be redecorating again in a few years.  Land of Nod sells coordinating plain drapery panels in the same ginham as the tent, and they would look great with trim added to the lead (inside vertical) edges of the panels.  Another great thing about this button trim is that it adds weight and helps the flimsy fabric to hang better.

I'll be sure to post photos of the finished awning valance after it installs at the end of the month.  

Tantalizing Tassel Fringe: It's All About Levels

Photo courtesy of Samuel & Sons

Occasionally, someone will tell me, with great conviction, that they "don't like drapery trim."  What they usually mean, though, is that they don't like the drapery trim they've seen at their friends' or neighbors' homes, or at the local Calico Curtains store.  Custom soft furnishings are all about attention to detail, and the best passementerie (fancy French word for trimmings) is like the elegant icing on an otherwise ordinary cake.  Decorative trimmings are available in a dizzying array of styles and price points, and I incorporate some kind of passementerie into almost every drapery panel, Roman shade, or pillow that I design.  However, fine trims are luxury items, and you do get what you pay for.

In this post, I'm going to show you some of the different tassel fringes available at different price points.  Although tassel fringes come in a wide range of styles and colors, I'm going to focus on traditional tassel fringe in a gold/camel color for the purpose of comparison. 

Machine-Tied Fascination Tassel Fringe from Milton Decorator Fabrics

This is a very common type of tassel fringe that you can find at your local JoAnn Fabrics as well as many online retailers.  This particular trim sells for $25/yd at Milton Decorator Fabrics.  This trim is made of synthetic fibers, probably rayon and/or poly, and the tassels are machine-tied rather than hand-tied (if you look closely at the top of the tassels, you can see the machine stitching holding the tassel together instead of a smooth coil of hand-wrapped thread).  If you need 13 yards of trim for your drapery project (enough to trim the lead edges of four 110" long drapery panels), a trim like this will run you $325.  From across the room, no one will see those machine stitches, anyway.

Hand-Tied Fascination Fringe from Milton Decorator Fabrics

...However, decorative trimmings are all about attention to detail.  Decorative trimmings invite the viewer to look more closely, and this hand-tied tassel fringe from the same collection is much more elegant and luxurious.  Also available from Milton Decorator Fabrics, this hand-tied Fascination Fringe sells for $48/yd.  If you need 13 yards of trim for that same hypothetical drapery project, your cost for the trim just bumped up to $624.  However, this is what I consider an entry-level trim collection, like the Honda of passementerie.  When you look through magazines like Architectural Digest or Southern Accents, the trims you're seeing are invariably sourced through trade-only suppliers, and most of them are considerably more expensive.

Robert Allen Scallop Trim in 14 Karat

The tassel fringe at left is available through interior designers from Robert Allen.  It's a rayon hand-tied tassel fringe with an interesting header, and it retails for $99/yd.  Going back to our imaginary drapery project, 13 yards of this trim is going to cost $1,287. 

Robert Allen Velvet Trim in 14 Karat

This Velvet Trim is from the same Robert Allen collection, still made of synthetic fibers, but it has a more elaborate header with a velvet ribbon woven through ladder stitches, and it incorporates a draped rope cord between the tassels as well.  This trim retails for $129 per yard, which translates into $1,677 if we need 13 yards to trim the edges of those four drapery panels.   

Vervain Eliot silk tassel fringe in Camel

 The trim pictured above is exclusive to the design trade from Vervain.  It's a hand-tied tassel fringe, but it's 100% silk rather than rayon.  It's lustrous, soft, and the color is rich and luminous.  No other fiber accepts dye the same way silk does, so I like to use 100% silk trims with 100% silk fabrics whenever possible for the best color match.  Of course, there's a reason not all trims are made of silk.  This tassel fringe retails for $132 per yard, so it would cost $1,716 to trim the lead edges of our four drapery panels.  That's the cost of the trim alone, in addition to the cost of the drapery panels themselves and the labor for hand-stitching the trim in place.

Photo Courtesy of Stroheim

Supposing price is not an issue, and you love silk trim, but you're looking for something more playful and unique?  Look at the impact this silk Pom Pom tassel fringe from Stroheim makes along the bottom edge of a simple balloon shade.    I love how the thread connecting the little pom pom balls is barely visible from a distance, so the little balls seem to be suspended in midair along the edge of the shade.  Here's a closeup shot of that same Stroheim pom pom fringe in a gold colorway:

Silk Pom Pom Tassel fringe from Stroheim

Stroheim trim is also sold to the Trade.  This is an especially beautiful collection from Stroheim, and the coordinating tassel tiebacks and braids are exquisite.  I love the mottled color variation in this collection -- the large drapery tiebacks almost appear tie-dyed, which gives it a Bohemian flair.  This pom pom fringe retails for $232 per yard, so the 13 yards we'd need for our four drapery panels would cost $3,016. 

Now for my favorite tassel fringe of all (favorite today, anyway): the Normandy Ornamental silk tassel fringe from Samuel & Sons, which was shown on a detail shot of a drapery panel in the photo at the very top of this post:

Normandy Ornamental molded tassel fringe in Nuance d'Or

Not only is this a silk trim, but look at the exquisite detailing!  At $290 per yard, this is the most expensive trim I'm showing you today (although it's not the most expensive trim available, not by a long shot).  Trimming those four hypothetical drapery panels with this breathtaking trim would cost $3,770 -- just for the tassel fringe.  As you can see in the photo below, that window treatment also has a coordinating wide braid trim layered next to the tassel fringe, double tassel tiebacks, a decorative hardware holdback, and what appears to be an expensive embroidered silk drapery fabric.

Photo courtesy of Samuel & Sons

Obviously, this look is not going to be practical or affordable for everyone.  If you live in an historic home, or you long for an Old World European flair, there are ways of bringing a little of this in without having to empty your kids' college accounts to pay for the draperies.

• Look for a similar trim at a less expensive price point.  From across the room, the $100/yd trim may look almost as good as the $300/yd trim.
• Consider a less expensive drapery fabric to offset the price of the trim.  Gorgeous high-end passementerie can turn a simple solid silk taffeta into an extraordinary drapery treatment, and not only are the solid fabrics less expensive than prints or embroidered patterned fabrics, but you will probably need less yardage since you won't have the waste required for matching the pattern repeat.  This is especially true for swag valances and other top treatments where the same motif needs to be centered on each piece that is cut from your fabric.
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  Remember that sometimes, less is more.  With our example of 110" long single width drapery panels, we can use half as much trim if we apply it horizontally instead of vertically.  An attached panel valance, as shown above, is a great way to showcase a beautiful trim in a horizontal application. 
• Embellish readymade drapery panels with designer trimmings.  Even if you're working on a tight budget and hiring a designer is out of the question, adding tassel fringe to the edges of readymade drapery panels is an easy DIY project to mimic a custom look. Start with solid silk drapery panels from someplace like Restoration Hardware.  Make sure the drapery panels are lined, preferably also interlined with flannel, or they will hang at your window like limp sheets!  Also, no matter what your sewing machine dealer tells you, machine stitching trim to drapery projects will create a horrible puckering mess. The professional drapery workroom that fabricates my designs always stitches trims like these by hand, but if you absolutely can't do it that way, you'd be better off with a hot glue gun than trying to top apply a tassel fringe by machine. Trust me!
• Pillows to the rescue!  If you fall in love with an amazing trim that is too costly for your draperies, consider using it for a throw pillow or two, where you'll only need a few yards.