Here's a photo of the right side. See the branch with two leaves on the outside of every pleat?:

And here's a photo of the full window. The right panel doesn't match the left panel:

Is it possible that they mixed up one of the panels from the bay and one for this window? How does the pattern fall on all the other panels?

It seems a pretty obvious mistake, unless all the panels aren't made the same way, and they weren't thinking about these two flanking either side of a fireplace, so needed to match.

Once they see them, they will have to fix them. Hope it all goes well, and you have your drapery perfect soon!

I would think all panels should be the same. If they correct this pair, make sure they are the same on the other windows as well. They will look lovely when fixed.

Wow, did you get these through the same decorator as the outdoor furniture? What rotten luck.

I'm sure they'll redo the panel that does not match, there's no way around this, they all have to match.

lovely fabric !!!!!

It looks to me that they didn't line the stems/leaves up correctly on the 2 panels when they reversed the fabric to cut it. I don't think the problem is only where they put the pleats. Good luck getting this one resolved.

Thanks all. No, this isn't the same designer. That former designer is history. This is the design team that I'm working with from the retail store, and I love them. This is only the second thing that has been delivered, however.

So at least my assessment is correct: that they all need to match. Of the six panels, there might be two pairs of side-by-side panels that match each other. The two flanking the fireplace are not the same either--but with the fireplace between them, it's less obvious. But I do think they will need to re-do everything to make this work.

Now I'm worried about the fabric for my wonderful padded headboard. It is a very large pattern with a huge repeat. I was concerned that if the large birds lined up horizontally and vertically, it would look weird. I was assured there was a half-drop in the repeat (not sure of the lingo), but when the very expensive fabric came in, there was no half drop. I told the designer that I was worried there would be a "box of birds" above my head--not the look I was going for. She said that when we talk with the upholsterer, he can take care of it. But what can he do to fix that kind of thing?

Well, on to the next project. Thanks for your posts everyone.

Hi Meg,
I own a custom window treatment business and fabricate them myself (most of the time!) So as a window treatment seamstress/designer I can see how this could happen. I had it happen to me not long ago but didn't forsee that I would have a problem with the drapes until I test hung them in my workroom. At that point I realized that they looked like I hadn't pleated them correctly because the colors in the plaid weren't lining up the same horizontally across the 2 widths. What I wound up having to do was to turn the 2nd panel upside down (it was non directional buffalo plaid) and so that when the panel was pleated the correct dominant colorway would show horizontally across both panels.

I know this is too much information! I don't think your fabricators would be able to do that because your pattern would be different - the leaves would be on the bottom instead of the top.

Do you know if the sheers were 118" railroaded? Or were they a 54" width? I can't imagine that a reputable drapery company would use a workroom who doesn't do the basics - like cutting drapery widths at the same repeat!!!

I will be anxious to see how they resolve your problem.

I just got off the phone with my new designer--the in-store designer--and she made me feel much better about the drapes, and about the headboard. (The two are unrelated but I started to worry that if this is what happened to simple drapes, what is going to happen to my headboard?)

Re the drapes, she said that if they're wrong, they'll do them over. And even if they're right, but I'm unhappy, they'll make me happy. So nice!

Re the headboard, I guess she didn't understand from my last email that there was no half-drop in the pattern repeat but she's going to look at it now. I'm very nervous about that because we've built the room around this fabric and I do want it to look wonderful. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I can empathize. I just purchased fabric for my recamier which has a 27-inch drop repeat. The fabric was the prettiest fabric I have ever seen. I could not resist it but the price was way over what I wanted to pay and since the recamier is tufted, just made it sooooooo over-the-top expensive but I will never have it redone again so I just sucked it up. I thought back to how much we recently lost in the market and how ugly that was and even if this feels like a loss in money, it is a very pretty loss in the long run and at least I have something gorgeous to look at. I had nothing pretty with a sad porfolio.

I know exactly what you mean Patricia. I couldn't resist either. I definitely sucked it up--or cowboyed up, as DH says. I'll have to start thinking of it as a pretty loss.

Hi Meg, glad to hear the store is going to stand behind their work. It's frustrating to have things go wrong (I had a whole summer of that) but the real measure of a person or business is how they handle things when things go wrong. Hopefully, this will all be resolved and the store will have forged a bond with you, resulting in a loyal customer and many referrals. That's the way it is supposed to work!

As for the headboard, I think you must go to the workroom when they are laying out the headboard. Do not rely on e-mails or second-hand communications through the designer. Were it me, I'd go stand there and watch as they attach the fabric.

Every time I watched over a creative process here at the house, I was glad I did. Questions come up, options you had not considered can be readily discussed, etc. Every time I trusted someone to understand what I wanted, I was disappointed...

Ah, you're so right amysrq. I was at the granite fabricator while they put the templates on my slabs and I am so glad that I did that. And had I not walked into our master closet just when I did, I'd have to be getting on a ladder to reach everything in our closet. (And I'm tall.) There are many things that I didn't "catch" in time, but I try not to focus on them--without much success obviously.

The store is going to schedule a meeting with the upholsterer, myself and the in-store designer to see about fabric lay-out. What I don't understand, and I'll try not to get upset until they say it can't be done (yeah, right) is why she assured me that the fabric had a half-drop, but then never confirmed that it had a half-drop before ordering the fabric.

Now I am committed to the fabric in a big way, including having already paid for two orders of fabric, not to mention the various upholstered pieces that specifically match the fabric in question. I do love the fabric so, hopefully, there won't be a "box of birds" above my head as I fear. Ah, the stupid things I worry about.

I am glad to hear that they will fix this for you. My drapes are also embroidered, but the pattern does not repeat evenly across the pleats. I agree with Amy I would go in and observe the layout to make sure it's just how you would like it to be. I also agree with Patricia about the stock market portfolios and decorating expenses. We just completed our built-in office which was a significant expense that entailed putting more money into our home in a despressed real estate market. As I told my DH at least we get to enjoy it--even if we don't get a return on investment one day.

Just wanted to post an update. Our designer was here on Tuesday and she said it was an obvious mistake and that they would have to re-do the drapes. She is going to talk with the soft goods designer to make it happen. Like me, she couldn't understand how they could have missed this but at least they're owning up to the mistake and taking responsibility for it.

I love that line Amy about how one handles mistakes, etc., and I'm trying to figure out a way to work it into our arbitration hearing.

Enjoy your office, valinsv!

I'm glad they are going to fix it for you. Show us the pics when they are complete. How many panels will they need to fix? Did they take the drapes back or are they making new panels? I remember how anxious I was to get my windows covered.

Thanks valinsv. Those are very good questions.

We have six panels right now. I believe that three match each other, and the other three match each other. Some are just a titch longer than the others but not so that most people would notice. I wonder if I have to worry about the dye lot issue if they replace only half of them? The light is different on each wall so maybe it's not as crucial. I'll discuss that with them too. All I know is that they didn't take them away yet.