About the service
I start every order at your place, with a tape measure and a ladder, and I measure by the cornice rather than by the window. The opening itself tells me almost nothing: the cloth hangs from the rod, and it is the working length of that rod, its height above the finished floor and its reach from the wall that decide how much fabric I have to cut. If the cornice is not up yet, I mount it on the first visit or strike a line on the wall, and only then write the numbers down. Next comes the gathering ratio, and it follows the tape you choose: plain pencil tape wants about two rod widths, a pleater tape two and a half, a wave tape close to three. Promising deep folds on a doubled width is the shortest way to disappoint someone.
For a bedroom I usually suggest a dense blackout cloth as the outer layer and a light voile behind it, so the room can be fully dark at night and soft in the morning. Patterned cloth is cut with the repeat in mind, and I match the pattern at every seam where panels are joined, placing the seam where it catches the eye least. The bottom edge gets a deep double hem with a weight cord sewn inside, so the curtain hangs straight instead of bellying out or curling towards the radiator. A lambrequin is made either stiff on a backing board or soft with draped swags, and I choose by ceiling height: in a low room a shallow one almost always looks better.
After hanging I steam each panel on the rod, set the folds by hand and leave them tied for a day or two so the fabric remembers its shape. If there is a hidden recess above the window, I fit a ceiling track inside it and the cloth seems to come straight out of the ceiling. A motorised track with a remote goes up the same way, but power has to reach the end of the rod, so I show you where the socket belongs before any finishing work is done, and I test the travel and the end positions before I leave.
What is included: the visit and measuring, help with choosing cloth, tape and weight, cutting and sewing, hooks and rings, mounting the cornice or ceiling profile, the power point for a motorised rod, hanging, steaming and setting the folds, and written care and washing notes for every fabric used. A normal job takes one to two weeks depending on the number of windows.
For a bedroom I usually suggest a dense blackout cloth as the outer layer and a light voile behind it, so the room can be fully dark at night and soft in the morning. Patterned cloth is cut with the repeat in mind, and I match the pattern at every seam where panels are joined, placing the seam where it catches the eye least. The bottom edge gets a deep double hem with a weight cord sewn inside, so the curtain hangs straight instead of bellying out or curling towards the radiator. A lambrequin is made either stiff on a backing board or soft with draped swags, and I choose by ceiling height: in a low room a shallow one almost always looks better.
After hanging I steam each panel on the rod, set the folds by hand and leave them tied for a day or two so the fabric remembers its shape. If there is a hidden recess above the window, I fit a ceiling track inside it and the cloth seems to come straight out of the ceiling. A motorised track with a remote goes up the same way, but power has to reach the end of the rod, so I show you where the socket belongs before any finishing work is done, and I test the travel and the end positions before I leave.
What is included: the visit and measuring, help with choosing cloth, tape and weight, cutting and sewing, hooks and rings, mounting the cornice or ceiling profile, the power point for a motorised rod, hanging, steaming and setting the folds, and written care and washing notes for every fabric used. A normal job takes one to two weeks depending on the number of windows.
