Curtains are fascinating to me for so many reasons... I don't follow trends or what's popular. I feel more than I follow. One aspect of curtain making that completely intrigues me are the repetitive details, the seams, the pleats the hems... Making curtains are a real challenge. Making them properly is an art form. Not only do you have to know how to manipulate cloth on a huge scale, you have to learn how to control it, how to see in a larger scale. What impact does the curtain have as a whole, and how do the small repetitive details factor into the overall design. This of course is compounded by the complexity of cloth and its various iterations... Wools, cottons, silks, linens. Each is a different animal and each needs to be treated and lined and constructed differently. Wools dislike bulk, so the entire construction process has to be one of reducing bulk and keeping seams flat and sewing with a high degree of accuracy to retain its architectural nature. Silks need a softer lining, an interlining even. Without this the silk is a flat entity. It has no depth and the curtains look like sheets, rags.
Controlling fullness, this is critical. Pleats need to be spaced evenly, sewn straight. Pleats need to be scaled to the treatment and appropriately chosen to reflect the style of interior and textile used.
I have been cataloguing our work for years and photograph details in the shop when I can and when I remember to... I will continue to share some of these images as I feel them appropriate, images that detail the details of the process.
Below you can see images from the pleating process on a wool challis curtain we are making currently. Wool is a fabulous curtain fabric. Soft, sculptural, hardwearing and tres chic. Wool hates fussy details, bulk and asparagus.
A bird's eye view of the pleats....
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