Wow, I have really gotten behind on my posts! All I can say is, you have to make hay while the sun shines, and the sun has been shining, as you will see as I catch up my blog!
Here is a project for a pinch-pleat valence in a breakfast nook with 3 angled windows. We decided to hang the valence fairly high and make the finished length 21".
The cut length of the valence is 21" + 3"*2 for hem + 4"+1" for header = 32". The pattern is Bosporus. After determining where I wanted the pattern to fall on the finished valence, I pulled a thread to mark the top and bottom cuts.
The finished with of the valence is 152", so before pleating and including the seams for the multiple widths, I needed 292" of width. This took about 6 widths of fabric! The repeat on this fabric is 24", so as I cut each of the widths starting in the exact same place in the pattern there was about 16" of waste between each one. Nothing to be done about that.
Next step is to sew all the main fabric widths together and repeat the cutting and sewing widths together with the lining (below).
I chose to sew the side hems next, bringing the main fabric in 2" on the edges. I sewed each side hem by matching the raw edges of the lining and main fabric, right sides together, and sewing a 0.5" seam allowance. Once the side seams were completed, I stretched out the fabric and lining to press the sides in so that the lining was completely flat against the fabric from end to end. Now I turned up a double 3" hem, pinned, and hand-stitched all the way across. Did this take time with about 12' of hem? Yes! Looking back, I think I could have saved some work by machine stitching the top of the hem to the lining (without showing on the front), then hand-stitching the sides, which were so short.
After the hem, I placed the bottom of the iron-on buckram exactly 21" above the bottom of the hem and ironed it in place. Then turned down the 1" tuck allowance, then turned all that over again and pressed to result in a 21" total length. I stitched along the bottom of the header edge to give it a neat appearance from the back.
I also at this time hand-stitched the folded edges and bottom corners so everything would lie flat.
Now for the pleats! There will be 30. The first step is to mark the gaps and pleat widths all along the header and check to be sure there is the correct amount of gap on each end (4"). I made a marking pattern on a piece of paper and used it to place pins at each pleat and gap. For each pleat, I folded the valence wrong sides together, matching the beginning and ending pleat pins, and sewed down 4" through the fabric, lining, and buckram. The picture at the right shows the panel with pleat spaces sewed and pressed.
To make the pinch pleats, I went through the stack and pinched each pleat into 3 folds, securing the lower edge. On the right is the finished valence, with the fabric design falling just as I planned.
The valence was installed using simple pleat hooks hung over three sheer rods butted up against each other to make a continuous valence. They look nice, I think!
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