Easy and Elegant Draped Lace Swags
Want to give your living room a stately, elegant look that's still relaxed and inviting? Then draped lace swags are the way
to go. This decorator effect adds luxury and grace to your room without giving it the stiff, austere feeling that sometimes
accompanies formal decor.
As elegant as these swags are, they are surprisingly easy to make. Actually, there is very little sewing involved. The key
factor in achieving the look you want is your choice of fabric. Choose one with a decorative selvage - it will be prettier,
and it saves you sewing, too! Make sure that the lace coordinates with your room in both color and design.
From a short distance, most laces look reversible. Some of them actually are, and in that case, you can choose which side is
the right one for you. But generally speaking, you can tell the right side of a lace by the fact that it has more texture -
there might be embroidered or raised areas - whereas the wrong side is flatter and less interesting. If you really can't
tell, ask the floor person in the fabric store for help. Don't forget to mark the right side, or else you'll find yourself
in trouble again when you get home!
Lace fabrics range in width from 48" to 60". Before you go to the store, measure the window you're sewing for - this way,
you won't buy a fabric that's not wide enough. This is important, because you're going to use the entire width of the lace,
running up the lengthwise grain on one side, draping across the rod and coming down on the other side. The effect is in this
draping.
YOU WILL NEED:
Lace fabric (amount determined according to instructions below)
Matching thread
Decorative curtain rod (length according to window width)
INSTRUCTIONS:
The first thing you have to do is mount the rod according to the instructions. The outer brackets should be placed so that
they just clear the window frame.
In order to determine how much fabric you'll need, do the following:
Drape a cord or rope across the rod, according to the path you want the lower edge of the swag to follow. Cut or mark the
cord and measure. Add at least two inches for the hems, and you know how much fabric to buy.
Take one end of the swag panel (not the selvage, the other end) and press under to 1".
Unfold the pressed edge.
Turn the cut edge under and align it to the first foldline.
Press outer fold.
Refold the edge along the pressed foldines so that the raw edge is encased, forming a 1/2" double-fold hem.
Pin the hem.
Placed pinned hem into your sewing machine, wrong side up, with the bulk of the material to the left of the machine.
Align the selvage of the panel to the back of the presser foot, and position the needle so that it will enter the material
just inside the inner fold.
Backstitch to the selvage.
Reverse direction and stitch forward all the way to the opposite selvage end.
Backstitch a bit and remove the fabric from the machine.
Drape the swag over the rod so that it looks just like the picture at the top of this article.
Place the hemmed end where you want it to fall, and mark the unstitched end at the desired location.
Remove the swag from the rod.
Cut the lace panel 1" longer than the mark you just made (for the hem).
Stitch the second hem just as you did the first.
Fanfold the entire finished product into soft pleats (make sure the depth of the pleats is consistent).
Tie the folds at regular intervals with ribbon or twill tape.
Drape the folded panel over the rod and arrange the folds the way you like them.
Wait for compliments!!
VARIATIONS:
Instead of lace, use other lightweight to sheer fabrics (preferably reversible, or close to it). Sew the swag longer than
floor length, and gather the excess fabrics into elegant "puddles" on the floor.
Do a double swag, with one shorter than the other. Secure them with double-stick tape.
Double-wrap the swag around the rod.
Instead of rods, use ornate shelf brackets and pull the fabric through. Add cording and tassels for a real decorator
look.
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