Working with Fabric making Soft Furnishings

WORKING WITH DIFFERENT FABRICS by Cindy

If you are a beginner sewer and working on your first project, I would recommend a cotton or a cotton/linen mix fabric. These fabrics tend to be pretty stable, easy to fold, iron and work with. Great for roman blinds, cushions and curtains.

Plain fabrics are the easiest by far as you do not need to consider pattern repeat or matching pattern when joining widths. Or if that is just a bit too plain for you, stripes make a great option too.

One thing to consider if using a plain fabric for a roman blind, the stab stitches may be more noticeable. In this instance, I recommend a plain with a little texture as they hide the stabs far better than a very flat plain.

One fabric that I have used frequently for roman blinds is Villa Nova Geneva. It comes in a huge array of colours, is easy to work with, makes up really well, is affordable and has a slightly visible weave that helps to disguise the stab stitches.

Great for curtains is Romo Linara. In more plain colours than you can possibly think of.

However, in our courses and on this website we will show you how to make with not just plain cottons but with all different fabrics and give you the confidence to make your own beautiful soft furnishings in all fabrics.

MOVEMENT

Throughout this guide we will refer to fabric “movement” – this is how stable a fabric is.

Fabric that demonstrates movement is trickier to work with but certainly not impossible. It just requires extra care and a different method to work on.

If you are new to curtain/blind making then cotton is the prefect fabric to start with. The main reason being is that there is less “movement” in a cotton based/mixed fabric than in a linen or viscose based cloth.

There are some fabulous quality linen/cotton blends out there which are a brilliant place to start as you have the stability of the cotton with a more linen appearance – that makes them less creasy too. A 40/60 linen cotton mix or a 50/50 is a good choice and I can thoroughly recommend the following fabric brands who tend to use a cotton/linen mix. Check out individual fabric for exact content…..

Some places to look

Velvet is a gorgeous choice for curtains and can be really dramatic. I don't tend to make many velvet blinds (they can be quite bulky) but it can look gorgeous as a border along the bottom of a roman blind.

THE NAP

If you lay your velvet out and run you hand down the length, you will be able to feel the nap. It runs smoothly in one direction and rougher in the opposite when rubbing the nap up the wrong way. Your fabric should be used with the nap running down.

When cutting lengths of velvet, I always mark the bottom of the panels with a a strip of masking tape (right at the bottom so it would be disguised in the hem just in case it marks). This way you will make sure that all panels are joined face to face, tops to tops and bottoms to bottoms. It would stand out like a sore thumb if you joined them the wrong way as you can see velvets look different if you look at the nap going down or if you look at them with the nap going up.

MAKING TIPS

If making interlined curtains, the hem can be quite bulky if double folded, so I would consider a single fold on velvet curtains having overlocked the raw edge to avoid fraying.
Try to avoid using pins too much as they can mark the fabric.
DO NOT DIRECTLY IRON VELVET! A little gentle steam can be used but check on a offcut first to ensure it doesn’t mark/ruin the fabric.You can get a velvet ironing cloth
Try and keep velvet flat at all times (unfolded) as it will ruin along a crease/fold line.
Make sure the nap runs down your curtain or blind.
Make sure when you join panels the nap runs in the same direction.
Machine stitch in the direction of the nap with a walking foot attachment. If you find the fabrics are slipping apart, then you will need to tack first before going to prevent the moving.
Tack the fabric together before machine stitching to avoid slippage

Silk fabric curtains scream luxury and decadence

MAKING TIPS

Use a good interliner.
If not interlining you could use blackout lining to reduce sun damage to the fabric.
Use a very sharp/fine needle on the sewing machine to avoid ugly puncture marks. Microtex needle.
Use a teflon, roller or walking foot on your sewing machine to join widths as they can slip apart.

As silk does tend to fade and degrade quicker than other fabrics, you can get some really good looking faux silks that might be a better option for longer lasting fabrics.

Personally, I love linen and it is my go to fabric of choice. It is simply stunning when made up. I love the beautiful natural handle and rustic look of the finished product, but it can pose a few problems and needs to be handled with understanding as it has lots of movement and can be creasey. Infact some of my customers will will specifically ask for no linen for that reason.

You can use linen/cotton mixes (as mentioned above) and these tend to be more stable and easier to work with, particularly for romans. Linen/viscose mix tends to have a softer handle and will drape beautifully. The viscose should make it less creasy and can add a little sheen to the fabric (some like that and some do not, so a personal choice).

For 100% linens, they come in varying qualities so can range from very soft and fine to thicker more sturdy linens.

MOVEMENT WHEN WORKING WITH LINEN

100% pure linens tend to have a lot of movement in them. You will notice that each time you lift and shake the fabric and then lay it back down, it will never lay back down in the same way. For example, if you drew a straight line across the fabric, lifted, shook and relaid it, the line would definitely not be straight. So it is important to make sure that you have found a straight line across the width that you can return the fabric shape to (with a plain I use the “drawn thread” method) and with a pattern, you will need to manipulate the fabric to get the pattern straight across the work surface.

DRAWN THREAD METHOD OR "PULLING A THREAD"

This is a method I use on a plain linen to mark a straight line I can return the bottom of the fabric to after moving it.

MORE TIPS

Move the fabric as little as possible during the make up process. When working on a large curtain when you need to move the fabric over the table as you work on each section, ensure you start with a straight bottom and edge in line with the side and bottom of the work table.
As you lay the lining on top, I use weights (heavy books work a treat) and clamps to ensure as little movement as possible.
If using multiple widths and your table isn’t very large, make sure the excess weight of the fabric hanging off the table is supported on chairs or smaller desks/tables.
When I lay the lining on, I draw a line vertically up the length of the curtain panel every half width or so and pin/tack the layers together to avoid movement.
When moving the fabric panel over the table to move onto the next section, make sure you are not pulling the fabric with the excess weight hanging off the side of the table. Lift the excess on to the table and gently slide the panel over making sure that the line that you drew, pinned and tacked is sitting straight on the table. If you continue to do this as you work on each section you will avoid the mistake of the fabric not hanging straight, which is very noticeable in linens when not handled correctly, particularly where layers have been “locked” together.

OUR FAVOURITE LINENS

Viscose is not truly man made or truly natural and seems to fall somewhere in between. It is seen more and more frequently in furnishing fabric usage but has been around since the late 1800’s. It gives fabrics a beautiful “handle” making it perfect for curtains as it aids drape. As for blinds? – I wouldn’y say it’s a definite no no but it will give you a much softer drapey blind without the crisper folds of a cotton or cotton/linen blend.

Polyester fabrics used to be seen as a cheap inferior option in curtain making. But man-made fabrics have come a long way recently and you will find a polyester mix in many fabrics now. I have to say, I am a bit of a convert. Why? I don’t tend to go for 100% polyester fabrics but to have it in the mix makes for a stable fabric, something that is generally easy to work with and doesn’t crease as much so giving a very pleasing finished appearance.

Polyester is not such an environmentally friendly fabric though as it is not biodegradable and it is made from petroleum .

Plains don't always have to be plain. With a plain fabric colour the texture, weave and sheen can give the fabric variation and character.

Also look close up at the colours in this "Abraham MOON Heather" and see the wonderful strands of colour in this "plain".

For plain blinds – I recommend…

www.villanova.co.uk-geneva

Plain for curtains….amazing choice of colours

www.romo.com-linara/

Pattern fabrics can make a really dramatic statement on a blind or make a wow pair of curtains but there are some rules to follow to avoid any problems.

Understand if you have a standard pattern repeat or a half drop pattern repeat
Calculate the correct fabric quantity
Check your pattern repeat
Check for pattern print issues
Place the pattern
Cut the correct lengths of fabric so they match at the joins
Pattern match the joins
If you can pleat to horizontal pattern repeat (nice to do)

STANDARD OR HALF DROP PATTERN REPEAT

When buying patterned fabric, the manufacturer will state a vertical pattern repeat. This is the distance between the top and bottom of 1 whole pattern repeat on the fabric. They will also state if it is a half drop repeat. An explaination of the difference between a Standard pattern repeat and a Half Drop pattern repeat can be found HERE.

Most fabrics are a standard pattern repeat. There are significant differences cutting, joining and calculating fabric quantites for half drop pattern repeat fabrics. More details HERE

CALCULATING THE CORRECT QUANTITY

When making a pair of curtains or a Roman blind that needs fabric joins, if you are using a patterned fabricvand just cut the fabric to the lengths required to make the curtain or blind in plain fabric (Fabric Cut Drop) you will find the pattern doesn't match at the joins. To fix this we calculate and cut longer adjusted cut drops (that are a whole number of pattern repeats - for a standard pattern repeat fabric), this increases the amount of fabric required. See our article on Adjusted Cut Drops HERE

Generally after calculating the quantity in Adjusted Cut Drops we also add one pattern repeat to the total to place the pattern on the curtain or blind.

CHECK YOUR PATTERN REPEAT

When you receive your fabric always check and measure the actual pattern repeat on it and compare that to the quoted pattern repeat you based your fabric qty calculation on. Sometimes it can be different and this can create problems as your Adjusted cut drops will change and my not be long enough or you may not have enough fabric. IT IS CRUCIAL TO DO THIS BEFORE CUTTING AS ONCE YOU HAVE CUT THE FABRIC, THE MANUFACTURER IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO TAKE THE FABRIC BACK ( AND PROBABLY WILL NOT).

There is a worked through example of the pattern repeat being different to stated in our ADJUSTED CUT DROP article HERE.

Differences when they occur are usually of the order of a few cm, but very occasionaly the manufacurer/supplier gets it wrong. See this example we had in the workroom below.

With the fabric in the image, the supplier gave the vertical pattern repeat as distance A in the diagram. At first glance this looks right, but when you look closer you will see the pattern is not consistent. Look at the areas marked by the red circles and you will see the pattern repeat is actually distance B (three times that quoted by the supplier).

If we had cut and measured according to distance A, the joins would have looked really bad.

CHECK FOR PATTERN PRINT ISSUES

Generally most fabrics are fine, but sometimes you can get an issue where the pattern has not been printed squarely across the fabric and drifts up or down. This causes major problems when joining the fabric creating staggered joins.

In some cases this has been so bad that we have sent the fabric back. However there is a method you can try to straighten and square the fabric pattern.

To deal with this (some fabrics work better than others) we cut the fabric across inline with the pattern and then manipulate the fabric to get the pattern square.

To manipulate the panel we clamp it to the table down at one corner and pull it from the other corner. This pulls the weave and the pattern up inline.

This video shows how we do it.

PATTERN MATCHING THE JOINS

Learning to pattern match is a useful skill and is quite therapeautic once you have mastered it – getting a perfect pattern match and join pleases me no end. See our EXTRA PATTERN MATCHING MINI TUTORIAL

PLEAT TO HORIZONTAL PATTERN REPEAT

Pleating a curtain to horizontal pattern repeat is not always possible but when it is, you can really create the wow factor. See our EXTRA PLEAT TO PATTERN REPEAT TUTORIAL

I have always found the fabric companies below have great patterned fabrics that I have never had any problems with when pattern matching – in fact they have been brilliant.

I have had a lot of issues with checks over the years and my experience tells me that they come with their fair share of problems. Why is this? Every fabric has a selvedge that runs down each side - the slevedges are normally slightly tighter than the main body of the fabric. When you lay your check fabric on the table, run a line across the width at a true right angle to the selvedge, you will frequently see that the check dips down across the width and may not run straight across. I call this a fabric “smile” although it does very little to make me smile! In fact it is a total nightmare when you are making a roman blind as it is crucial that the check is straight across the top. It is less noticable if you are making a curtain but I would still avoid. I have had this happen to me too many times with checks - if it does happen, I send the fabric back and hope for a better batch second time but still no guarantees.

It is possible to pull the fabric back into shape (check out our video) but I try to avoid using check for roman blinds - stripes should be fine though.

Stripes – Stripes down a fabric work really well on roman blinds and I love Ian Mankin fabrics for this very reason – the linen/cotton blends never disappointment when making up and give a simple and understated elegance

My favourite stripes….they all come in a great choice of colours…

If you’re thinking of using a stripe for a curtain, consider how you are going to head it up. If you are hand pleating, it might be worth considering how you place your pleats across the width to make the best use of the horizontal pattern repeat of the stripes rather than a hap hazard pleating. Pencil pleat can work well on striped fabric but I always make sure that I use the correct 2.5 x fullness ratio for maximum effect.

A stripe with a higher viscose content works well for curtains as the viscose really adds to the soft drapey feel….

When you get your fabric ALWAYS CHECK IT before you start making.

Check the fabric you've got is what you think you ordered (sound silly but sometimes colours are similar and they send the wrong one - or you ordered the wrong one)
Check you have the correct amount that you ordered.
Measure the Pattern Repeat and check if the pattern is a straight match or a half drop.
Before you cut any fabric, ensure that you have checked it for faults (as companies will not always take back faulty fabric once it has been cut)

I also iron every piece of fabric before I commence make up (following manufacturer’s recommendations). The reason for this (particularly when making a roman blind) is that you will probably need to press it once complete. If you have not already ironed it, you can get some unfortunate shrinkage that will ruin your blind. Also. You frequently need to press side turns, hems etc during the make up process – again, if not already pressed you may end up with shrinkage just in these places making the blind narrower at the bottom.
I also make sure that I press linings too before make up – crucial in Roman Blind making.

Some other fabric companies worth looking at (for inspiration if nothing else)…