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Window valances

Rose Pekelnicky

4 months ago

I made some new valances for my living and dining rooms. Thre were for single windows and one was for a double window. The singles were 85" wide and the double was 145" wide. Glad to be finished with the job.

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Lars

3 months ago

Here are a couple of valances I made for my brother's bedroom in L.A.

You can see the seam on the corner on this one - the fabric was not as wide as I needed. I got the fabric and silk trim at work. We sold the trim through our furniture showrooms, but this fabric was from remnants leftover from an upholstery project.

Here's a valance (of sorts) in my kitchen:

Kuba cloth from Africa - no sewing required on my part, but someone else hand-stitched all the pieces together, and the fabric is hand woven. I like that it lets some light in.

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Comments (6)

Rho Dodendron
4 months ago
Glad to see someone besides me is still sewing and using valances. They are a lot of straight sewing. Lookin good on your window.
Rose Pekelnicky thanked Rho Dodendron
kathyg_in_mi
4 months ago
Nice!
Rose Pekelnicky thanked kathyg_in_mi
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Ooohh, I, too, love your serene kitchen! Re: I agree w/ the above poster who mentioned perhaps a calming watercolor--perhaps of a field w/ some red flowers or something?? And/or you could add a simple a woven wood/bamboo shade inside-mounted in your windows, just to add a bit of texture. They could either be a natural/brown or they also have them in various shades of white... I have a sample of the color St. Lucia from this line; it is very pretty; this co. sent samples quickly: http://www.selectblinds.com/bambooblinds/tropicalisle-bamboo-shades.html The brand/line linked below has both a natural and a white option in the style "Lorena"; couldn't tell if your cabs/trim were more creamy or truer to white. Again, you can always request free samples. (Note: i have no affiliation to this co., just had good experience getting samples from them. Not ready to order my window treatments just yet, since we haven't even started our remodel. LOL) Incidentally, these specific lines of shades are available from some of the other online vendors, as well, although sometimes under a different name. If you are interested in either of them, I have the other websites saved, also, b/c sometimes one co. will be offering a different incentive or additional savings. Let me know if you would like that info; I'd be happy to send it to you. All that said, if you don't do another thing to your kitchen, its beauty can easily stand on its own, just the way it is! Congratulations on your lovely kitchen. Here is a link that might be useful: Extreme Woven Wood Shades at Select Blinds
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What kind of valance are you making? Most do not require any pattern as they are usually just rectangles sewn together. For a 91" window I would use 4 widths of 54" fabric seamed together. This would give you slightly more than 2 times fullness. A good site for directions is www.alternative-windows.com. Also all of the Singer Sewing for the Home books as well as the Sunset Curtains, Draperies, and Shades are excellent. I own them, but they are also available at my library.
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Update on wooden valance.... At the last minute, I had the painters take it down and patch the holes. The whole house is now painted "believable buff" (looks very yellow in this picture?), new laminate floors, inexpensive but new kitchen appliances. We decided to take down the extremely old drywall in the garage that had never been finished and put up new...we found zero insulation. My dh wondered why this garage was always so cold (this is the home he grew up in). Getting closer to being done and dd moving in. I wish my sweet MIL would have let us do these things when she was alive. Thank you for all of the advice!! So what do you think?
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Another thought, if you wanted to buy 1 more valance you could cut the valance lengthwise into strips as wide as needed to make a large dropping bow on each side,wide enough to cover the needed space. With the same material, it would look as if they were made that way. Just a thought.
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msmeow
4 months ago
It looks very nice! I like the color.

Donna
Rose Pekelnicky thanked msmeow
Fori
4 months ago
Those of us who cannot sew straight salute you!
Rose Pekelnicky thanked Fori
claudia valentine
3 months ago
Very nice. I dont think that valances are at all as popular as they used to be. I used to sew them as part of a business that I had, so have made quite a few of all differnet styles.

I took down all of my soft window treatments in prep for a move that didnt happen. Since I had patched up and repaired the walls from the rods. I never put them back up and I have to say that I quite like the window without them now. But, I am clearing the deck of any and all unnecessary anything, so a bare top of the window fits the bill. I went to simple clean lines of cellular shades.

It used to be that I could easily find and buy a seemingly endless supply of lengths of beautiful deco fabrics, so I used to sew a lot for myself and change them out. But, that plentiful supply of nice deco fabrics just dried up and the last time I browsed the selection at where I used to buy so much, they all look pretty darned dreadful both as to the fabric and the print. The choices used to be so vast that I could spend hours just browsing and touching and just admiring all that I had to choose from. It is all a distant memory now, as it is mostly all gone. I folded up all of the curtains that I made and had hanging and put them all together in the top shelf of a closet. I made mostly curtains, not pleated drapes. And some of them are so darned beautiful that I just cant get rid of them. Everything is made with professional standards and of good quality lining and fabric. I am hoping that one of the kids might find some use for them when I am gone.

Probably not.

It is a nice way to use a bit of pretty fabric and give some beauty to the room. Many styles require so little yardage.

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