Making some color block drapes and could use advice or thoughts
 

My DIL has asked me to make some color block drapes using 3 colors. Each 96 inch panel will consist of the 3 colors, each of which will be about 32 inches. They will be linen and lined with a cotton. I have never made something like this and thought I'd just check to see if anyone else has and if you had any suggestions.

She found an online shop called Gray Line where she can get the linen in a drapery weight. I've never heard of this website. The linen is 55 or 60 in wide which is good and $9.75 a yard which seems reasonable to me. After a quick Google search, I didn't seem to be able to come up with anything better.

As I said, if you have any thoughts, suggestions, advice, etc. I would appreciate it. Thanks!

I have not made drapes, but I think you would want a good quality drapery lining for these. I would probably press the seams open (and perhaps serge the edges first). You also might want to place weights in the hem to make sure they hang properly. Check your library for books on making draperies; they should help.

MY suggestion to her would be, forget it. I could be making a quilt instead.

I am with psychonurse, but actually would probably do it so that my DIL owed me instead of me owing her for marrying my son!! LOL

I have to agree with psychonurse. I've tried making drapes and they're a pain, at least to me they are.

Think of the drapes as quilts without batting. Might make the project easier to deal with?

My late mother made lined drapes and always said they weren't that hard, just be sure to measure repeatedly before you cut. But I have never made more than a simple valance, not confident of my abilities with that much fabric at stake. Good luck!

I've made floor length curtains out of quilting cotton, but they had a horizontal band of heavier-weight, almost canvas-like, fabric about 2/3 the way down. In that horizontal band, I embroidered stars, hearts & boxes...then, on the seams where the cotton joined the top & bottom of the band, I stitched wide (really wide) red rick rack. They were lined with a light-blocking fabric, and then I put grommets across the top for easy hanging. Turned out really nice...I'll see if I can't find a picture.

Best thing I can tell you, is make sure you do the original math & calculate yardage properly - once you cut, there's no going back. To be truthful, after I cut them the proper length, I hardly measured again. How they all lined up properly, I'll never know - I was darned lucky!! I did the embroideries prior to inserting the band in the cotton, and I serged all the seams. I attached the lining to the drapes only at the top & sides, leaving the bottoms free from each other. I don't know why, but that's how I saw them in the stores.

The grommet insertion was easier than I'd thought it would be - there are directions included in the grommet package, and a template to cut the fabric...but, I was still hesitant to cut circles out at first. Here's one place you DO need to measure - so that your grommets are evenly spaced, and all line up in a straight row.

For a nice, gentle drape, you'll need fabric to be at least 1.5 times the width of your window. To be tightly gathered, you'll need at least 2-2.5 times the width.


Sorry, apparently I didn't take (or keep?) any pictures.
Good luck!

OK, so I did find a couple of pictures after all!
The picture of grommets was me "measuring" them out evenly, prior to insertion. Thanks for looking!

And here's what I did with the leftovers & the recipient: