Curtains contained

Well, these have taken me long enough!  I bought the silk for these curtains last summer and started making them in October I think.  At first I used a Pretty Pleater to make the pleats, but I wasn't at all happy with the way they turned out.  I wanted a much softer, fuller look.

Looking round my workshop to see what I could use to make the pleats, I found some of my paintbrushes had just the right shape and length to do the job.   I am quite pleased with the result.

It didn't take me too long to make the first set of curtains and the swags and jabots.  The second set however was a whole different story.  For some reason it just didn't want to do what I wanted it to do.  

So I threw them into a corner  and I didn't feel like working on them for a long time.

   

But of course I had to have a pair of curtains so I picked up where I left off in December.   It didn't get any easier though!   I did them again and again and again until finally they almost resembled the first set of curtains.   Now I still have to make the curtain tiebacks!

The curtains are lined with a thin white silk (all hand sewn, not glued), the same silk I used to make the little shades.   I hope the lining will help prevent too much fading of the blue silk fabric.

I really like how it looks looking from the outside in!