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Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Taking Another Step...

I forgot a step yesterday.  I didn't put the stabilizing strips in the outer edges of the long curtains. 

I prefer doing it while pleating.  That way, I am sure that they are covered by the fabric. 

They did pretty well, considering that I did it after the fact.
Here you can see the strips of quarter inch wood that I put in the edge.

I also put three strips of stabilizing fabric along the width of the pleats to keep them from spreading. You can use ribbon if you don't have enough fabric.  I just put a line of glue down the middle and lay it across the pleats.

I will go back with a straight pin and go over all of the holes that I poked in the fabric to straighten the threads.  That way, non of the pin holes will show.

Here are the jabots that will go on either side of the curtains.  Again, I cut them about twice the width of the size that I needed and a little longer.

If the top edges were going to show, I would turn them under. 

I think that I am going to cover the tops with swags. 

The pattern in the picture is not to scale. It was just to show you that, if you have a fabric that looks the same upside down, you can get away with this kind of cut. It is a 45 degree angle.

For the jabots, I used Wonder Under.  That's the fabric stick-um that comes in sheets and you just sandwich it between two pieces of fabric and iron them to stick them together.  You can get it at any fabric or quilt shop.

I simply cut the jabots out and started at the outer edge, pinning as I went.  They are the same width as the curtains with a bit of extra to wrap around the outer edge of the curtain.  The raw edges of the pleats will be covered with trim.  It is not necessarily needed.  With the Wonder Under, it seals the edges and makes them so that they don't ravel.

Anyway, that's as far as I am going today.  I have to go to Wednesday Witches later, so I probably won't get much more done...

Back to work.

See you tomorrow.

4 comments:

Phyllisa said...

Hi Casey. I remembered how I made curtains when I saw your method yesterday and this morning. I must have followed your instructions way back then. I have a Pretty
Pleater that I made the pleats with. I recall using strips of matboard at the sides, the top and in some cases the bottom, to give the curtains support and fabric strips across the width to keep the pleats in place, except where the curtains were sheer. I mounted my curtains to the "wall" with double- stick tape because they are in an antique piece of furniture and I didn't want to use glue. I don't recall using hairspray to stiffen, but if I did it didn't work. I'll have to try again. I have a lot of mini rooms that don't have windows or curtains. Lots to practice on. They do make the room more lifelike.

The next ones I make I think I shall enclose the top of the curtains in a cornice box and attach that to the wall. It will give me another element for decorating, eliminate turning back for seams at the top and add stability to the curtain unit.
Phyllisa

Caseymini said...

Phyllisa, you must not have used hairspray. If you did, they would never move! By the way, be sure to use the pump kind. Not the pressurized can.

Giac said...

Hello Casey,
Thank you for the great tutorial! I have learned so much on your amazing blog and I thank you for sharing all your knowledge with us.
Big hug
Giac

Caseymini said...

You are very welcome, Giac. I am just having fun writing. It keeps Tessie out of trouble. Most of the time...