“Open Window” Event

Are you a window coverings professional, interior designer, workroom or installer ? If so, the Triangle Chapter WCAA would love for you to join us at Spoonflower for an evening of mingling and a tour of their new facility.

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If you are new to the area, or hoping to meet others with similar interests, whether in the design end or the fabrication end of things, we would love to meet you. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served so be sure to RSVP here …….

Hope to see you April 11, 2013 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Custom window treatments can be the single most important element in pulling together your decorating scheme. 
Contact me to provide you with up to date window treatments that you are excited about.

Fabric Friday

Yesterday was field trip time again for our local WCAA chapter. We visited Greenhouse Fabrics, a southern company that has wonderful fabrics and customer service.

These were some of my favorite patterns….. Bold and Colorful !

Leah gave us a tour of their warehouse and showroom followed by the most amazing cakes homemade by Angela. MMMMM, cake for breakfast, my kind of company !

Visit their website and contact me if you find something you love…..

Custom window treatments can be the single most important element in pulling together your decorating scheme. 
Contact me to provide you with up to date window treatments that you are excited about.

Fabric Friday

Don’t worry, you didn’t lose half of a week………. I’m doing Fabric Friday early this week ! I just went to a seminar by Joanne Lenart- Weary of The Decorating and Staging Academy and Greenhouse Fabrics was the sponsor.

Greenhouse has beautiful embroidered linen fabrics in many color ways.

They are a wholesale distributor of fabrics including, prints, stripes, linen, suede, leather and upholstery. There is something for everyone. I got my family room drapery fabric from GH, now I need to finish them.  Go have a look around their website and let me know if you want to order anything !

Joanne Lenart-Weary was a wonderful speaker and gave us a lot of information about ways to improve our business. She also spoke about how to choose colors and mix patterns with confidence. Her website has the schedule of upcoming classes, I highly recommend taking one if you can.

Custom window treatments can be the single most important element in pulling together your decorating scheme. 
Contact me to provide you with up to date window treatments that you are excited about.

I met Sarah Richardson

One of the INSPIRE highlights was the keynote speech presented by designer Sarah Richardson, the host and co-producer of the popular HGTV shows, “Sarah’s House”, “Design Inc.”, and “Sarah 101” who spoke about her decorating philosophy and the impact her TV shows have had on the process of decorating.

All of her designs start with fabrics and that is what gives the room it’s direction. She uses 10 to 12 fabrics per room and uses a mix of cottons, silks and velvets to add texture.

My favorite Sarah quotes of the day:

“As a designer you are only as good as your team.”

and

“I would leave no windows undressed.”

Are you looking forward to her new season ?

Custom window treatments can be the single most important element in pulling together your decorating scheme. 
Contact me to provide you with up to date window treatments that you are excited about.

INSPIRE 2011

I’m so excited to be going to Inspire on September 7-10th.  It’s a trade show and conference for window covering professionals, designers, workrooms, installers and retailers. 

The keynote speaker is Sarah Richardson and she is going to share her experiences as both a TV personality and a designer. Her interiors are so fresh and classic. I hope she brings Tommy, he’s a hoot !

I’m really looking forward to the classes and workshops. They are going to cover topics on design, fabrication, marketing and business.

There will an exhibition hall with vendors and new products, tools and technology.

It’s a great chance to connect with my drapery ladies. If you are in the industry go register at WCAA, hope to see you there !

Jackie Von Tobel Seminar

The Triangle Chapter WCAA hosted a design seminar featuring Jackie Von Tobel.  She taught a class on quick rendering where we learned how to sketch window treatments.  It’s an essential skill when you are trying to communicate to a client what their treatment will look like.  I’ve always been pretty good at sketching but it was so interesting to see how she does it because I’m such a fan of the designs in her book, The Design Directory of Window Treatments.

The afternoon class focused on techniques and trends in creative window treatments and was full of great tips. 

Some of the members of our group chose a design from her book and created a vignette based on the sketch. I picked this one which is a cornice that has two very different panels.

This is my completed vignette mounted onto the display wall that my Dad helped me build (thanks, Dad!) The under panel is shirred on a sash rod and the over panel has a swagged heading.

Each member of the planning committee received  1 yard of fuschia silk fabric from Greenhouse Fabrics (one of our sponsors) to make an accessory of their choice.  We have such talented ladies in our group. There were blouses, belts, scarves…….. I made a necklace from 1” styrofoam balls and a tube of fabric.

          

I’ll make another necklace soon and post the instructions on In Stitches.

Custom window treatments can be the single most important element in pulling together your decorating scheme. 
Contact me to provide you with up to date window treatments that you are excited about.

You’re Invited…..

 

Techniques and Trends in Creative Window Treatments

with Jackie Von Tobel

May 20, 2011

One Eleven Place 111 Realtors Way Cary, NC

8:30 am - 4:00 pm

featuring

Jackie Von Tobel’s

Quick Rendering System

Anyone can produce professional looking sketches for their clients if they know the secrets and short cuts that Jackie has perfected over the course of her career.  During this hands on interactive seminar attendees will learn the basics of Jackie’s easy quick rendering system to use simple shapes like triangles, squares, and circles to create to scale, detailed drawings quickly and accurately.  This amazing seminar will give you the confidence to use your rendering skills on the job to impress your clients and communicate more effectively with your workroom and designers.

and

Creating Couture Treatments on a Shoestring Budget

In our challenging economy every penny counts both for our clients and for our business!   In this seminar Jackie will divulge great tips, tricks, and sources  to get the most bang for your buck when designing on a budget.  Learn to lower your construction costs while still offering cutting edge couture to your clientele with new designs and materials.  You will leave with many brand new JVT designs to add to your portfolio.

Early Bird Pricing is good through May 6th, after that date it goes up $20.00.

$55.00 for Triangle WCAA Members

$65.00 for National WCAA Memebers

$79.00 Guests

To register for this event, please click here - https://www.jotform.com/form/10975140546

 

Jackie is such a talented designer and artist, click to read my interview with her and see her gorgeous home office and fabrics.

If you are in the area we would love to have you come spend the day with us, breakfast and lunch are included !

W is for WCAA

The ABC’s of window treatments

When you’re flipping through a magazine and see a beautiful window treatment do you ever wonder who made it ?  It probably wasn’t made in a huge factory by big machines.  Most likely it was hand made by a small one or two person workroom with lots of attention to detail. The roman shade and valance above was made by little ol me.  When you’re a small business it’s great to belong to a group of like minded people.

The Window Coverings Association of America is the only national non-profit trade association dedicated to the retail window coverings industry, including designers, workrooms and installers.

They have over 1300 members in North America and the Caribbean and they are launching the first Canadian chapter on January 20, 2011.  There are 30 local chapters across the country and I’m lucky enough to have one near me. 

What I enjoy most is networking with my peers and bouncing ideas off of each other.  There are so many talented ladies in our group. We tour businesses like Spoonflower, Virginia Quilting and Greeenhouse Fabrics.  We have speakers like Susan Kostelecky from the Creative Sewing Camp, Edward Walker from Trading Spaces and Jackie Von Tobel.  Some months we just get together and have book club or watch a fabrication video.

I was just elected vice president of the Triangle Chapter and this is our officer picture for 2011.  Bianca Henry/President, Me/ VP,  Ronica VanGelder/Asst. Secretary, Lisa DeVita/Treasurer, Jackie Soderling/Secretary.
If you are in the window coverings industry I encourage you to join and start enjoying the education and networking !

Custom window treatments can be the single most important element in pulling together your decorating scheme. 
Contact me to provide you with up to date window treatments that you are excited about.

Workroom Wednesday – Artisan Designs

I have started a series that will showcase a different drapery workroom each week.  These talented artisans can take an idea or a photo and a bolt of fabric and turn it into an amazing creation that adds so much to your home.

For the past nine years Annie Davis has owned Artisan Designs, a to the trade only workroom in  the Omaha area.  She loves to do hand detailing and specialty techniques because of her background in quilting. 
Cornices are a specialty of Artisan Designs.  These are shaped at the bottom with a banding and nail head trim.

Lambrequins are hard cornices that have longer legs that come down the side of the window. 

This cornice is custom designed to fit into a corner.  The detail on this one is amazing with banding, cording, two fabrics and tassels.

This is a very unique drapery panel.  It has a sheer panel inset into the fabric with bead trim at the top and bottom.

The panels in this bedroom are pulled back by a technique called Italian stringing.

Swag and horn valances are hanging from knobs or medallions.  This is a good example of keeping continuity by mounting all your valances at the same height in an open floor plan.


Using a fabric panel is a great option for making a closet door.

They also build and upholster custom vanity stools and ottomans.

This pillow is an example of the fine details in Annie’s work.  It has a hand ruched trim between the pleated banding and the center panel with a box pleated ruffle around the outside.  The origami flower is the center is called a fennel. It’s gorgeous !


Annie has attended many educational seminars and keeps up with all the latest techniques in our industry and that is obvious looking at her work.  She is also a member of the WCAA and is a Drapery and Design Professional Network Member.
To see more of her beautiful creations in her online photo album go to www.artisandesignsomaha.com

Workroom Wednesday – Holbrook Hill

I have started a new series that will showcase a different drapery workroom each week.  These talented artisans can take an idea or a photo and a bolt of fabric and turn it into an amazing creation that adds so much to your home.

Holbrook Hill is a custom drapery studio serving Midlothian and the greater Richmond, VA area.   Sally Rosenlund  has been designing and sewing soft home furnishings since 1991.  Their products include custom window treatments, bedding, upholstered headboards, cushions, pillows, custom dog beds and more. 

 

Their services include:

• In-home design consultation
• Fabrics, trims and hardware choices for shopping at home
• Blinds, shades and shutters to address your privacy and light control needs
• Computer renderings so you can visualize before you buy
• High quality fabrication techniques with unique detailing
• Professional measure and installation to ensure a perfect fit

You may visit their website at  www.holbrookhill.com to see more about Sally and her delightful interior details.

These beautiful treatments were fabricated by Holbrook Hill………

Striped panels with the Moreland valance.

Striped sheer panels paired with a suede cornice embellished with nailheads.

Stagecoach valance.

Toile london shade with buttons and ruffle.

Beautiful assortment of bed pillows.

Aren’t these wonderful ?  They would look good in my bedroom !

Fun pillows and custom spread in a little girl’s room.

Member WCAA

Workroom Wednesday – H&R Drapery

I am starting a new series that will showcase a different drapery workroom each week.  These talented artisans can take an idea or a photo and a bolt of fabric and turn it into an amazing creation that adds so much to your home.

Pat Hart owns H&R Drapery in Naples, Florida. 

H&R Drapery is a high-end, full service drapery workroom. They design, fabricate and install valances, cornices, draperies, pillows, and bedding. They also upholster walls, dining room chairs, cushions and benches and  make upholstered headboards. They offer fabrics, trims, hardware and motorization.

H & R Drapery has been fabricating window treatments for Southwest Florida’s most prestigious designers for over 18 years. They understand the importance of developing relationships and maintaining high quality standards. As your partner, they want you to be successful. They work with their clients to determine specifications and determine concepts. And they are readily available to answer your questions and assist you with your work orders.
Not a designer? Not to worry. They have an in house designer who is available to help you with all of your window treatment needs.

 

1791 Trade Center Way, Suite D, Naples, Florida 34109.
239 566-2929 FAX 239 566-1129

Visit their website at hr drapery

See their blog at hr-drapery blogspot

Here are some of my favorite examples of their beautiful work.

Member of WCAA