Den Drapes Makeover with Valences and Celtic Applique

What??  ME have a little time on my hands and just enjoy the moment?  Rare!  This was just the dangerous situation I found myself in last week.  After all, there are so many projects at home needing to be done.  For one thing, the drapes in my den have needed a makeover for some time.  They are too long for a recessed area two of the windows are in.  And they let in too much light around the top for this room, which we watch TV in.  And they were hard to open and close because they were gathered on the rod.  I have actually thought about what I wanted to do for a long time, and decided to just take care of it this week.

My solution was to cut off the drapes to the correct length and use the cut off part to make a valence.  I'll just describe this part because I should NEVER be trusted to be the one that takes pictures of everything that needs pictures, and I'm afraid I fell down on the job again this time.

I knew I would have about 13" to cut out.  To preserve the existing hem of the drapes and lining, I took this 13" out at the bottom edge of the rod pocket at the top.  After cutting out the piece and putting it aside, I attached the long bottom piece to the rod pocket heading.  I knew that piecing seam would not be noticeable there.  At the same time, I inserted interlining to give the drape body and add insulating qualities -- this room tends to get cold in the winter.

After attaching the lower drape to the header, I put in pinch pleats so the drape could be opened and closed easily and retain evenly-spaced gathers when closed.  I did not use a header tape because I wanted it to be soft and stay open when opened.  Plus, the pinch pleats themselves will not show under the valence and did not need to be so crisp and perfect.

The drapes finished, I hung them using cafe rings on the same inexpensive sheer rod they were on before.  The cafe rings and sheer rood will not show under the valence.

To make the valences, I planned to hem the strip I removed from each panel and staple it to a 1x4 board, and mount it above the drapes.  But I felt the valence needed some decoration or interesting feature.  I had heard about appliqueing Celtic designs or monograms using bias tape and decided to be my own guinea pig so I would be experienced should a client request this feature. 

I went online and found what is a fairly typical Celtic design.  I printed it out, enlarged it to the size I wanted, and made a pattern.  After completing the valence, I positioned the design in the middle. 

I punched holes in the key turns and used a fabric marker to mark the design and then connect them to form the entire design.

 Next I prepared the bias tape.  I had wanted to take the easy way out and find a packaged bias tape, but could not find one in the color I wanted.  I couldn't find cotton either, which would have been the easiest fabric to make bias tape with.  I did find a really pretty gold heavy satin.  The satin was a beautiful choice for this, but not friendly for making bias tape!!  I eventually figured out a method that worked for me and got busy applying it to my prepared valence.

I used a mini-iron (shown here) because I needed something small to work with this 3/8" wide tape.  The mini-iron I purchased - the Clover Mini Iron II - is really the only choice out there.  And it is a piece of junk!  (Not to put too fine a point on it!)  Within 20 minutes, the metal rod coming out of the handle (inside the plastic guard you see on the left) came loose and wiggled around in the plastic housing!  It was not usable that way.  I discovered the rod does not go all the way down the handle but is "anchored" only about a 1/4" inside it!  After much frustration, I found a way to have it held centered inside the plastic guard and was able to keep working.

The finished design!!  I thought it turned out well after all the frustrating twists and turns.








This picture shows the updated drapes.   By the way, I added blackout lining inside the valences so light wouldn't come through and interfere with the look.  I'm sorry I don't have "before" pictures, because this is a 100% improvement!

I'm starting on a baby nursery for a client this week.  I'll keep you posted!

Sheer window and bed curtains

This project was to create the window and bed curtains for a soft, "marshmallow" guest room.  All of the treatments were to be hung from ceiling height (10') and made with white voile - nearly 50 yards!

There were two tall windows, with the sheers to be hung just under the crown molding and puddling slightly below.  There was to be a panel on each side of both windows.  The queen size bed was to be surrounded with sheers hung from the ceiling, two panels of sheers per side.  That is a total of 12 panels of sheers!  Yikes!  

The window panels were hung slightly lower that ceiling height, but needed to puddle.  The bed panels were to go from ceiling to floor.  The window panels were going to be pinch pleated with a 5" header, using tabs behind to go over the rod; the bed panels were going to have a sleeve go over the rod, with a ruffle at the top. The first step was to cut all of the panels, the window panels just a couple of inches shorter than the bed panels.  I marked and numbered each piece with a bit of masking tape.  One complication was I lacked enough fabric to cut two of the panels to their full length.  I ended up suggesting these could be the bed header panels, where the pieced part would not show.  My client agreed and we purchased some additional fabric.  I cut the pieces so that both header panels would be pieced at the same level - which was about 24" above the floor, then pieced the two panels, using a French seam.  This saved several yards of fabric!

The hems came next.  All were 6" double hems.  Since voile is so slippery slidey, I started with just pinning at the 12" mark.  Then I folded hem up where the pins were and ironed that edge.  Then I folded the 12" inside the fold all the way to the bottom fold and pinned and ironed.  Much easier said than done with this loosey goosey fabric!  Final step was stitching along the very edge of the hem fold all the way across.  By very edge, I mean ideally within one thread of the fold!  

After the hems, I cut the selvages off the sides (because they pinched slightly and would show through the hem) and turned in a double 2" hem.  This was done just like the bottom hem, but I didn't pin first, just turned 4" over and pressed.  In turn, I folded the edge inside, pinned, pressed, and stitched to give a 2" wide side hem.






With all hems and sides done, I addressed the window panel headers.  They were to be pinch pleated, and be able to open and close, with a tab on the back so that the panels hid the rod.   Since these were to have a very soft feel, I decided not to use a header tape or buckram.  I simply folded the header over 6", folding the last inch under again and sewing close to the edge.

After marking the gaps and pleats and sewing the pleat seams, I took an extra step to give the pleats support, as well as a place to sew the tabs on:   I folded the header around the each pleat seam and stitched about 3/16" from the edge.  This created a ridge behind each pleat.

To finish the pleats, I pinched each one and tacked at the top and bottom.  Then I sewed a strip of selvage I had cut off the sides to the ridge behind each pleat (shown to left and below).

Now to the bed curtains.  Originally they were to be pleated and hung from rings, but the new plan called for them to be threaded over the rods with a sleeve, with a 3" ruffle on top.  This not only softened the look, but saved purchasing nearly 100 rings!  This required a little extra length, so I purchased a little more fabric and pieced extra length to the tops of the panels so that the piecing seam was along the top fold, where it wouldn't show.  The two panels at the head of the bed were going to stay closed, but the other sides needed to open and close.  When the panels were closed, it was desired the panels retain even gathering.  I solved this by making a tack at the top of the sleeve every few inches, just like the spacing would be if they were pinch pleated. Pictures above show the opened and closed look.

The installation was somewhat time-consuming, since it involved ironing each panel before hanging.  And let's not forget dealing with the ceiling rods over the bed!   Let me tell you, threading on panels, cutting gaps for the brackets, tacking the corner edges together, and doing the other arranging needed was not easy with a 10' ceiling!  I am tall, but still had to stand on the 2nd step from the top of this ladder.  Fortunately, I made it through without any injuries!  And so did the chandelier!










   

Here are the finished window sheers.  Very full, with two panels per window.  The panels open and close with 60" clear plastic batons attached to the inside tab of each panel.  Works very well.

Why is one picture mellow yellow and the other white?  Ask my phone!  Maybe I'll bring my nice camera next time.









I'll include several pictures of the bed curtains, since the room is a little small for a comprehensive picture of the entire thing.  The first pictures are before the bed was put inside.

 A good picture of the ceiling rods.

 A pretty chandelier in the middle.

As close as I could get to floor-to-ceiling shots.

The bed is purchased and put inside.  Lovely!  At some point, the client plans to complete the look with a headboard.

                     

Various recent crochet projects

This is a gallery of some of the crochet work I have done recently.  I teach crochet as well as knitting, including how to read patterns, how to choose yarn and needle sizes, and how to block.

This triangular scarf took several evenings while watching TV, and wasn't hard.  I got this pattern, "Festival Shawl" designed by Lyn Robinson, found on Ravelry.com.  It is crocheted using Lion Brand's "Vanna's Glamour", color Topaz.  It is a beige with a gold metallic running through it.  Very pretty in person.  I crocheted in small beads around the two 'v' edges.










This native girl is made with a gourd and various crocheted motifs hot-glued on.  One of my favorite features in this one is the crystal belly button!   I had split the gourd in half so that I could hang it on the wall.  The other half is still in my sewing room waiting for inspiration!




While I was decorating the master bath, I made this for my husband's area.  Slightly naughty, but appropriate for its location!








I must have needed something to do when I made this --- it became one of a set of picture frames, and went in the same room as the gourd girl, using the same yarns.








We go camping a lot, and I always have something with me to do while traveling or relaxing.   To the left is a cozy to go around the french press coffee maker we keep in our camper, to keep the coffee warm.  I found the "buttons" (off of elastic hair ties) at a Dollar Store while we were in Munising, MI.








Below are various beanies (but not all) that I made on a recent trip.

  

Reupholster Armchair with Show Wood

One of the skills I picked up several years ago is reupholstery.  I had recently had three bad upholstery jobs done for me --  In one, the floral fabric was run sideways.  In another, the nice spring cushion was replaced by a too-thin cushion and instead of giving me the extra yard of fabric I ordered for pillows they made a skirt I did not want.  And another job was botched with white decking in a dark blue sofa, with the cushions so small you could stand by the couch and see the white decking. The cushions were so hard they didn't make a dent when you sat on them.  I would have added exclamation marks to these, but there would have been too many!

So I took an upholstery class, got the right equipment, and never looked back.  I have done more than a few projects - sofas, chairs, ottomans, and cornices among them.

This project was fairly straightforward, to reupholster an armchair that has exposed wood on the arms and lower edge ("show wood").    The project should have included refinishing the wood and fixing the bottom of the chair (as you will see!), but the client requested only the upholstery itself be done.  Just sayin', in case you look at the pictures and notice!

I don't know the history of this chair, but it must have been quite a while ago it was recovered in this thin-ish chintz fabric.  My client pulled this out of storage to update and use in her new guest room.

The first step is removing the old fabric, starting with the back.  Here is where I found the old fabric not removed by the previous upholsterer.

Next is a dressing of new batting over the existing batting, which still seemed to be in good shape.

Next I strengthened the back by stapling some burlap over the open space.

Roughly using the old pieces - the seat, inside back, outside back, and arms, I cut pieces out of the new fabric, paying special attention to the pattern.  I wanted to center the pattern on all of the pieces, even the arms.










I did the arms first, laying the new piece over the arm, stapling around, and trimming close to the staples.  Since this was thin fabric (meant more for drapes than upholstery), and was bad to unravel, I wet the stapled edges with a coating of Fray Block.  Fray Block is basically a glue that goes on wet and dries clear.

Somehow I don't have pictures in between, but here you can see all the pieces (except the back) have been stapled on.  First the small piece under the front of the arms, then the seat and seat back.  I trimmed and fray-checked all the stapled edges that are next to the show wood.

To finish the back involved several steps.  First, welting around the sides and top, with some extra batting.

Then the top of the back was stapled on close to the top welting, using a cardboard strip to give it a good edge.  This is looking up under the back piece at the top of the chair.







This is the top of the back after stapling it, but before dealing with the rest of it.

Before going any farther, I needed to put on the gimp over the exposed staples next to the show wood.  Gimp is glued on typically with hot glue, which is what I did.








I love the gimp my client picked out!

The tricky part is next - closing the sides of the back using a tack strip.  (Note: I added more batting over the burlap before doing this step.)

To get the tack strip positioned, I pinned the fabric where the outside fold needed to be, then pushed the tack strip through the fabric at the pins.  I folded it in and used a mallet to drive the tacks in.











In this step, I stapled a piece of welting along the bottom edge of the back to protect it and give it a finished look.  The final step should be to staple  the black dust cover to the bottom.  But since the springs and metal pieces stick out, I cannot do this.  I gave the client a piece of dust cover to use when she has the bottom fixed.  I really should have insisted that I needed to do this repair!

The finished chair.

Another shot, since it looked so bright in the sun!  A pretty fabric.

Living Room/Dining Room Drapes

In this post, I describe the drapes that go with the valences in the previous post.  Same fabric, a beige stripe damask, and accent fabric, a beige satin.  These drapes are 109" long, with the accent fabric forming a band along the center edge.  We chose goblet pleats to give an elegant look, wrapping the bottom of each pleat with the accent fabric.  The drapes are lined and interlined, but do not have blackout lining as the valences did.  There are two 41" windows; we will use one width per panel, 4 panels total.  

 Ok, I'll apologize up front for not having pictures of all the steps - I'll just do my best to describe them!  Starting here--- After cutting the 4 panel lengths out of the main fabric, I cut one length of the accent fabric and divided it into four long strips of about 12" (having used some of the width previously for piping on the valences).  I attached a strip of accent fabric to one edge of each panel.  I had to keep in mind that there are two "left" panels and two "right" panels!  Oh boy, would that have been a disaster to have made four identical panels!!  You can see in the picture to the left the accent band at the far end.

The next step is to turn up a double 6" hem, press, pin, and hand sew.  It wasn't too bad - it's easy to pick up a single thread with this fabric.

After preparing the main panels, I cut and prepared the lining and interlining.  With the band added to the main fabric width, I needed to piece the interlining as well, since I wanted the interlining to back the main fabric completely.  So I cut another length of interlining and divided it into four strips.  I attached the strip and serged it to prevent fraying. On the left is the pieced interlining, showing the 2" double hem pinned, ironed, and ready to sew.

I did not piece the lining, but planned to use a single width.  The band will wrap around to form a nice edge in the center of the window.  In it, as well, I made a 2" double hem.








I wasn't taking any chances the two linings would wrinkle or have pulls, so I laid the pieces down and smoothed it out until it was perfectly positioned.  The lining fabric is face up on the bottom layer, the main fabric is face down on top of it, and the interlining is on the top (no right or wrong side).  The interlining had been pieced, but not made the exact width of the pieced main fabric.  Instead, I lined up the piecing seams for the main fabric and interlining.  I trimmed the excess interlining on the non-banded side, as shown.  There is still some excess on the other side, but I will deal with it later.

To sew the side hems, I decided to match the edges on the banded side, shown here.  I pinned, sewed, and pressed.  You can see here the bottom edge of the panel with the different layers - face-up lining, face down main fabric, and interlining.  The hems are staggered so the lining is above the main fabric and the interlining will be hidden above that.

I serged the side hem seam, trimming the excess interlining at the same time.








The other side hem needed to be sewn so it matched the other side hem exactly.  I kept the panel wrong side out and laid it on the work table with the un-sewn edges of the other side seam lined up.  I worked to smooth all the layers and make sure the band wasn't pulled in any way.  What will be the final band edge for the center of the window has not been pressed - I will do that after this.  So, I pin the other side seam, stitch, and serge.

With both side seams stitched, I turn the panel right side out and determine the exact with of the band to show on the front and press a crease there, then, smoothing all the layers just right, press the other side, which will indent about 2", as shown on the left.

Side seams and hems done, it is time to finish the top of the panels.  Here I am measuring the exact length from the bottom of the hem to the top edge and folding over.  I also tuck in an additional inch or two to make the header section 5" wide, and pin and press.  I will hand sew the bottom edge to the lining.  I am not using any header tape because the fabric is thick enough already here, and leaving out the header will allow the drapes to softly open.  (I will use a stiffener in the goblet pleats as you will see.)





With the header ready for pleating, I put down a piece of masking tape on my work surface and mark pleat and gap spacing.  I will reuse these markings for all four panels.  To mark the panels, I lay the panel down, matching the ends with end markings, and pin every pleat beginning and end.






I stitch each pleat 5" down plus a little more to get just past the folded header edge.








Here are the sewn pleats  I pressed the seam areas but not the folded edge of the pleats, because goblet pleats are rounded at the top.  They look pressed in this picture, but that is just because they were folded there for sewing.













I experimented with different ways of attaching the "choker" to the bottom of the goblets.  This picture shows pre-stitching the choker to one side of the pleat seam.

The lower pleat has been "choked."  I took the pleat, pinched the lower end like a pinch pleat and hand sewed the other end of the choker so the choker holds the pinch.











To make the upper part of the goblet hold its rounded shape, I cut a piece of buckram about 4" long, rolled it into a tube, and inserted it in the top.  In this picture you can see a panel of completed goblets with the buckram giving them shape.

 Last but not last are the standard drapery pins behind each goblet and on the ends.

 To transport these panels with minimal wrinkling, I folded them lengthwise several times and rolled them up.  To keep the goblets from being flattened, I held off on the buckram tubes and inserted them just before hanging.

 A set of panels hung in the living room.

 My client wants the drapes to be just off the floor.  We hung these a little high so that when they stretch out hopefully they will be just right.  If not, I'll move the rods up or down or adjust the drapery pins, as needed.

To close in the outside edges of the drape, I put screw eyes in the wall and hooked through them the drapery pins at the end of the panels.

  In the dining room.

Closed.  We are using 60" clear batons to aid opening and closing the drapes.  The batons are attached to the center-most ring of each panel.

Besides making the drapes feel luxurious, there is an additional benefit to the interlining:  It adds insulation to the windows.  My client plans to keep the drapes open most of the time, but in the winter may want to consider closing them at night to keep out the cold air.

Well, goodbye beige striped fabric!  It's been nice knowing you for these few weeks, but time to move on to a different project!