Archive for the ‘Curtains’ Category
November 10th, 2011 | 
Author: The appearance of some curtains and bed hangings is improved by the use of tie-backs. Tasselled rope is available in many colors, but a more individual approach would be to make your own, either in the same fabric as the curtain or a contrasting one. The tie-back is generally stiffened with interlining and it could be lined on the reverse. Hold a fabric tape measure round the open or partially open, curtain as if the tape measure were the tie-back. If the curtains are floor length the tie-back would be level with the bottom of the window. Don’t pull the curtain too tightly as it will hang wrongly and may even mark the fabric. Note the length required and add on 2cm or so for turnings. At the same, mark in pencil the point on the wall where you want the hook to go, and fix it in place.
Cut out two strips of fabric for each tie-back or one strip each of main fabric and lining material. They should be about 12cm deep and the length already established. If you want rounded or pointed ends, shape the material accordingly. Cut a piece of interfacing to the finished dimension of the tie-back. Tack it to the back of the main fabric and catch-stitch it in position. Pin and tack the other strip to the first strip, right sides together, and then machine-sew all the way round leaving and opening of about 10cm down one long side. Grade the seams and clip the corners and any curves. Turn the tie-back right sides out through the opening, press it and slip stitch the gap closed. Sew on a ring at each end to fit on to the hook fixed to the well.
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It is one of the most popular styles of curtains in which the fabric itself is cut in a scalloped pattern and the curtain is hung on the rod with a set of rings. In this case they should be barely wider than the window otherwise the effect of the scallops will be lost. 1 ¼ times the width of the curtain would be appropriate. Add 2.5cm for the side seams. The total height will be from about 3cm below the pole to the sill, plus 2.5cm for turnings. Join the fabric and lining, right sides together, down the sides. Trim the seams, but don’t turn the tube inside out. Pin the top edges together. Then make a template for the scallops. The tween each scallop, but the dimensions of the curtain will dictate their exact width positioning. If you have difficulty dividing the curtain into these measurements, the two end spaces can be increased. Draw a circle with pair of compasses the radius should be 4cm.
Draw horizontally across the diameter and from each end draw vertical lines 6.5cm long. On the lining side, mark in pencil the position of each scallop. Mark a line parallel to the top edge, 1.25cm in. then sew round the markings. Clip into the curves and cut off the corners so that the scallops will lie flat. Turn the curtain inside out and press it carefully, especially round the scallops. Sew a curtain ring the center of each space between the scallops. Turn up the bottom hems to the correct height, slip stitch them together and press them. If you don’t want a lining, cut some material for facing the scallops. It should extend a couple of centimeters below them. Join the facing to the main fabric down the side seams as before. Then draw in the scallop positions and sew them before hemming the bottom of the facing, and the sides and bottom of the fabric, with double 2.5cm hems.
Billowing festoon nets provide privacy but admit light, and give a softness of line which is perhaps particularly suited to bedrooms. In living rooms, a large floor length window may be necessary to do justice to the effect. It is best to look on them as a permanent feature – if you want something similar that can be lowered and raised, Austrian or festoon blinds might be more suitable. Festoon nets take a lot of fabric. You will need at least 1 ½ times the width and up to three times the height of the window. First, calculate the dimensions, take, for example, a 120cm wide window. It gives four 30cm festoons. To make up, festoons require casings, formed on the wrong side of the net, on which to draw up the fabric.
The points at which to make these casings should be 30, 60, and 90cm across the curtain after the fabric is drawn up to the finished width. Take account of the side hems in your calculations. If you need to join widths, make run and fell seams that coincide with the casings. Start by sewing the vertical casings into the length of the netting. Make two lines of stitching about 1.5 cm apart. Cut lengths of piping cord the length of the window. Thread the piping into the casings with a safety pin. Turn down and sew the top of the net to make the double heading which will be the casing for the wire, sewing across the piping cord as you go.
Pin up the bottom hem and sew it in place, again going across the piping to fix it. Adjust the fabric bunched up by the piping –you may find this easier if you lay the curtain out on the floor. At intervals of 10 or 12 cm down each vertical casing, pin the folds to the piping – the pinning the top casing, and try the curtain up against the window to see if the festoons are hanging neatly tain down and sew through each pinning point to anchor the festoons in place. Sew any fringes or tassels to the hem or the bottoms of the vertical casings, and the curtain is now ready to hang properly. It is also possible to buy a narrow lightweight nylon gathering tape, which you can simply sew on to the back of the curtain at the required intervals, then pull up the net to give the festoons.
Tags: Many nets come with the frill already attached, but to make one, cut four long strips of net each 12cm wide and the length of the inner side hem. Join two of the strips together and fold the resulting strip lengthwise to enclose the short seam. Then fold in the two long edges and make two rows of gathers along that edge. Give the curtains a double 1.5cm hem along the bottom and up the outside edges.
Press down the top hem to form the 2.5cm casing and the 2.5 heading, or attach heading tapes. The inside edge is the important one. Draw the frill up on its gathering threads to this length. Lay the frill parallel to the curtain, about a centimeter in from the edge and starting it 2.5cm from the top so that it doesn’t get in the way of the casing. Sew the two together, right sides the curtain over the frill’s raw edges. Press down the seam.