Posts Tagged ‘soft furnishings’
Sew tabs with café curtains
November 7, 2011 | 
Author A method more usually associated with café curtains is to sew tabs along the top edge for the pole to go through. Make up the basic curtain first. The length will be from a point about 7.5cm below the rod to the bottom point of the finished curtain. Add 15cm for a double 7.5cm bottom hem, and 2.5 cm for a top hem. Café curtains should not be too full, so 1 ½ times the width of the pole is ample. Add 10cm for a double 2.5cm hem at each side. Café curtain look best from the outside if they are lined – bagged type of lining works well. Make up the curtains except for the top edge. Make the tabs from the same fabric as the curtains. Cut enough tabs to fit at 15cm intervals along the width of the curtain. Measure the circumference of the pole; add on a total of 2.5cm for seam allowances and another 5cm for movement.
This will be the length of the piece of material to cut for each tab. The finished width will be about 6 or 7cm, so double that for the two sides and add 2.5cm for seam allowances. Fold each piece in two along its length, right sides together, without creasing the fold. Sew along the seam 1.5cm in from the edge. Open out the seam and press it. Turn the tab inside out, position the seam down the center of the tab, and press down the side folds. Press towards each other by 2.5cm. Pin the tabs 15cm apart and ensure that all the raw edges are enclosed allow a 1.25cm seam allowances at each end of the tab. Try the curtain on the pole to see that all the tabs lie comfortably. Then remove it and stitch along the top edge of the curtain so that the tabs are fixed in place and the top edge is closed.
Café Curtains
Café curtains are an attractive and well established way of dressing a window. They fit over the bottom half of the window which gives privacy to people sitting in the room, traditionally, of course to diners eating at café tables. At the same time they let in daylight through the top half of the window. In some circumstances you could consider them as an alternative to net curtains. Café curtains look especially good on sash windows where the frame is divided by a horizontal bar. The curtains can be fitted to the height of this bar for a neat visual effect. You could consider hanging café curtains with a matching pelmet. There are many ways of making café curtains.
Most types fit into two end sockets, after the curtain is hung on it, or you can use other arrangements. A d-i-y or department store should be able to provide you with a good range of rods and fittings. One of the simplest methods is to attach clip-on rings through which the pole is slotted. You make up the curtain in the usual way, but also turn down the top heading into a double hem, forming mitered corners there too. Then clip on the rings at regular intervals across the top. Or you can sew large curtain rings along the top edge, at intervals of about 10cm, with a neat buttonhole stitch. Again, the top hem should be completed first in the same way as the bottom hem. A cased heading is the next easiest method and suitable for sheer fabrics.
Quilting
Quilting is one of the oldest of household crafts. It probably originated in Europe in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, with different regions developing their own traditional patterns. In its simplest form, it is a method of holding two layers of fabric together with a layer of insulation between them for warmth. Originally, almost any form of filling was used, from wool left by sheep on hedgerows to shreds of old material. When making a quilted object, choose the simplest design to show off the work to best effect. Examples look well on cushions or throw over bedspreads.
English quilting: It is usual to use synthetic wadding as the filling, though “bump” and “domett” are possible choices, or even an old blanket. Wadding is available in several thicknesses. Natural fibers are the best for quilting. Manmade fibers are more resistant to shaping. Fabrics with sheen, such as satin, show off patterns well. Velvet and fine wool also produce luxurious items. Backing consists of calico, muslin, sheeting, or the main fabric itself so that the quilt is reversible. A matt fabric is best for the underside of a bed cover, to prevent it slipping off the bed. If machine sewing the design, the stitches will go through all layers without difficulty. However, with a large bedcover, you will almost certainly be unable to get the work under the machine arm, necessitating either working by hand or dealing with the quilt in sections, making the final joins part of the overall design. It is not necessary to cover the whole area with an elaborate design you could work just the central part or even one corner. The remainder could be quilted with a simple all-over pattern of squared, rectangular or diamond stitches.
Cut out the fabric for the top and the backing. Add 7.5cm to the length and width to give 2.5cm turnings all round and to allow for the slight reduction in size caused by the quilting process. Cut the wadding to the same size as the outer fabrics if you have to join widths, overlap the edges of the wadding and secure them with a large running stitch. Plan the design, deciding, if necessary, where the separate sections will join, so that the seams can form part of the pattern. Sketch or trace the design on to tracing paper, tack along the lines of pattern. Tear away the tracing paper, leaving the design in tacking on the top fabric.
Posted in Household Crafts | 
Tags: small tasks in home, soft furnishings, suggestions to maintain home, tips | 
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Bedspreads and Valances
The traditional bedspread offers an almost limit less range of design possibilities. The instructions here cover a variety of types from a simple throw over bed spread to more complicate fitted styles. By adapting them you will be able to achieve exactly the effect you want, whether you are designing your bedspread or copying one from a magazine or shop display. A valance covers the base of the bed when a duvet or a half-length throw over bedspread is used. It can be made from the same material as the sheets and duvet cover, probably polyester cotton sheeting in the same or a contrasting color or a heavier fabric.
The part of the valance that covers the base of the bed under the mattress is never seen, so it can be made from lining fabric, calico, or a piece of old sheeting as long as it is not worn. If it stretched out right to the sides of the bed it might just be visible between the mattress and the base, so it is surrounded by a narrow border in the same fabric as the sides. There are various styles a simple gathered frill, box-pleats, or kick pleats at the corners of a straight-sided valance. It can go all round the bed or just round the sides and bottom if the head of the bed is against a wall.
Duvet
You may think it worthwhile to make your own duvet only if you have an unusually large bed. Alternatively you may want to convert an old eiderdown but you will have to supplement the filling as an equivalent duvet needs more down. The duvet consists of a channeled bag filled with goose or duck down, feathers or synthetic material. Goose down is considered the best and most luxurious because it is the lightest, but synthetic filling is the cheapest, easiest to handle and is washable.
The bag is divided into compartments to keep the feathers evenly distributed. Its light weight and flexibility enable it to sink around the sleeper’s body, eliminating pockets of cold air and providing perfect insulation. You can buy the type of filling you prefer from a good upholstery supplier. The fabric used for the duvet itself must down proof cambric which is waxed on one side to stop the sharp quills poking through. The cambric is covered by a second bag which is taken for washing. To decide upon the size of the duvet, measure the bed from top to bottom and from side to side. Add at least 20cm at the bottom of the bed for the overhang, and at least 40cm to the width measurement for the overhang at the two sides.
It relies on its weight to seal up the gaps at the side of the bed and it you have insufficient overhang; you may well find that the edges are not sealed. To all these measurements add a further 2.5cm at the top, bottom and both sides for the seam turnings. Cut two pieces of cambric to these measurements. Sew them with French seams around the two sides and top. If the cambric is too small to make the bag from one width, sew widths together using a French seam, joining right sides together first. Trim the seam turnings turn the bag inside out and machine sews round the seams again.
Posted in Bedding | Tags: decorating your home, home care, home maintenance, soft furnishings | No Comments »