Christmas Cushions

The period running up to Christmas is the busiest time of the year in the Denton Drapes workroom as we work hard to deliver beautiful new curtains to our lovely clients. However for a little light relief we decided to put together a Christmas cushion display.  This guide shows how we went about it.

First we cut a pattern for the tree applique

Pattern for the Tree

We gathered together fabric for the cushion itself, for each element to be applied and some beads and bobbles for decoration.

Materials for the cushion

All these shapes were bonded onto the base fabric with pieces of wonderweb to hold them in place before stitching began

Tree

Trunk

Pot

Star

We then took the front of the cushion to the machine. we used a decorative zig-zag stitch and a metallic gold thread making sure the stitches were close together.

At the machine

Carefully we followed the outline of the Christmas tree, trunk, pot and star.

Ready for decoration

Once we had completed the outline of the applique it was time to decorate the rest of the tree.

Decorations ready

We used a selection of beads, buttons and bobbles which we sewed on by hand randomly across the tree.

Decorating the tree

With the front panel finished we added the back and  zip. A nice plump cushion pad finishes the job.

Our Christmas Tree cushion

We always have crackers at Christmas so we thought a Cracker Cushion would be a good idea. We used a beautiful silver silk satin remnant with a contrasting striped velvet fabric to create the body of the cracker.

Cracker Fabric

We measured around a bolster cushion to get the width of the satin and length of the cushion adding 30cms for the ends of the cracker

Contrast in place

The striped centre panel is approximately one third of the full width of the silver fabric. This was then top-stitched onto the satin by machine. Putting right sides together we sewed a small seam along the length of the cracker to create a tube.

The seam

We did not allow any seam allowance on the circumference of the bolster so that when the seam is sewn the tube will fit snugly and give the cushion a plump appearance.

Sewing the bows

All we did then was to insert the bolster into the tube and tie an organza ribbon at each end to match the striped velvet.

The bow

And there we have our Christmas cracker!

A Christmas Cracker

We had a lot of fun that day playing with trimmings and fabrics

Play time

We even made a little cushion with a star

A Christmas star

Three Christmas cushions

A few liitle touches and there’s our Christmas display

We’ve had a busy year at Denton Drapes and I haven’t posted as many blogs as I would have liked. I promise to make a New Year resolution to do better.

Until then on behalf of the whole Denton Drapes team I would like to wish each and every one of you a peaceful and happy Christmas season and a healthy and prosperous year in 2012

Penny

xxx

Merry Xmas from Denton Drapes

Open Day 2011

Once again this month we opened the doors of the Denton Drapes workroom to customers, suppliers and friends on our annual open day.The idea behind the open day is to give our domestic clients the chance to see where their soft furnishings were constructed and to give our trade customers the chance to meet the team that make their projects.

We now welcome many of our designer clients and some of our suppliers as well and also get a number of potential customers who take the opportunity to examine our fabrics and view the samples on display. One fan of our  Facebook page even made a 320 mile round trip from Cheshire in order to meet the team and take a look around.

This year the event was just after the launch of our new logo and image redesign which meant investment in a suite of new signs and notices around the place as well as the replacement of some of our displays with pieces made from some of the most recently released fabrics. Curtain makers and office staff were all on hand to show our guests around and to answer questions about our making techniques and marketing activities.

Most visitors also spent time chatting together while enjoying a buffet of delicious food, champagne and soft drinks. Denton Drapes Director Penny Bruce was in constant demand from customers interested in ordering new projects and several have already placed orders as a result. A day like this takes a lot of preparation but it really is a lot of fun and we’re all looking forward to the next time in 2012.

Joining A Tricky Fabric

Close-up of the selvedge

Joining some fabrics can be tricky especially when the join is right on the edge and the selvedge is tiny and uneven. This Harlequin fabric Memi 7548 is a beautiful embroidered piece but as you can see in this close-up of the face side the selvedge is really small and irregular.

The uneven selvedge seen from the other side

In this picture from the wrong side you can see the many tiny strands of uneven ends that make the join bumpy.

The fabric join is very evident and uneven

As you can see, when you try to join this type of fabric on the edge you end up with an irregular and unprofessional looking join.

Joining the selvedges leaves an uneven join

This is caused by the tiny strands of yarn that are uneven on the selvedge . You can see clearly in this picture where the machine has ridden on either sides of the strands making it impossible to achieve an even flat join.

We move into the fabric

Our answer to this problem is to come into the width and the pattern.

Matching the fabric

Here you see we are matching the pattern with pins ready for hand stitching.

Using a ladder stitch

There are times when no matter how experienced you are with a sewing machine the join will not be perfect. In this case we use a very small ladder stitch  by hand to ensure a perfect match which is required because we are making a roman blind so the seams are very visible. An example of how to do ladder stitch can be seen on the DD YouTube channel………here.

Matching the other side

This picture shows using the same process of coming into the width on the other side of the blind.

The finished seam on the right side

The finished seam shown for the right side.

The matched seam

A close up of the matched seam.

The new joins

This pictures shows clearly how we have come into the widths to achieve the joins. The seams would be lightly pressed and then the seam allowance trimmed down so we can complete the blind as normal.

Nearly ready

An almost completed blind hung and waiting to have stab stitched inserted.