We are slowly renovating our entire little bungalow. My goal is to have a 1950’s bungalow-sized Fabergé egg house, only it won’t be so spectacular on the exterior. I want a bejewelled interior that I will love to inhabit for the long haul. To that end we’ve redone our kitchen, the girls’ bedrooms and have just laid the new floor and re-painted in mine. The living room is coming together piece by piece…
But right now I need to make my drapes. I didn’t have enough faith in my sewing skills to do a shaped valance, so I paid a professional to do that. (Hey, it was velvet and I really don’t know what I’m doing with drapery, OK?)
I’ve had this fabric in my stash, awaiting this day for almost two years. Today I finally hauled it out and laid it out and measured, cut and joined it.
And because I’m new to this and don’t want to make a mistake that can’t be undone, I’m taking my time. A lot of time. Like 4 hours of time just to get the cutting and joining right. Tomorrow I’ll start hemming the bottoms and the sides.
Mezzo Couture 
Ooooh I am with you on the lack of home dec/drapery skills. Your patience is outstanding! (And I loved your daughters’ room. Now I want a canopy!)
Wow! Those drapes are going to look gorgeous! Can you please share what kind of lining you are using and where did you get it from?
I’m in the process of making drapes for our living room and I picked up some regular 100% cotton drapery lining from fabricland at Winston Churchill/Dundas. I was in a hurry to finish them but reading your post reminds me that I need to take it slow and do it well than hurry and have unprofessional looking drapes.
Also did you pre-wash the fabric before making the draperies or does it not matter? Or will you be dry cleaning them?
I will be sending these out to the dry-cleaners, if it’s ever necessary. My drapery fabric is a tufted velvet on a cotton backing, but it’s been “finished” with something akin to latex, I think. It’s inflexible and no way no how could I ever get these into my washing machine. I’m thinking I’ll just vacuum them when I need to clean them.
As for the lining, I went straight to the experts: Designer Fabric Outlet at 1360 Queen St. W. (Queen/Jameson area). I chose a light-filtering coated cotton lining. It’s not quite a blackout lining, and it was cheap, too: $3.99/yd.
Thank you!! I’m going to the store you suggested next time I need drapery fabrics!
That’s serious dedication!
Looking forward to seeing the next stage, I’m sure the final product will be beautiful. I’m such a slow sewer that four hours seems perfectly normal, particularly if matching is involved.
Your stripe alignment is perfect. I’m sure your drapes will be as wonderful as you envision.