Remaking Tab Top Panels

Pinterest inspiration photo

     My client had some embroidered tab top panels that she loved but they no longer worked as panels.  She saw a picture on Pinterest of a treatment she liked and wondered if I could repurpose her panels.

Panels, fresh from the cleaners

     The panel has a border of flowers along the bottom and then scattered flowers on the rest of it.  It was decided to use the border for the the part of the treatment.

Cutting the width of the top part

     The client told me the desired finished length and width of the treatment.  I then chose to make the top part about 1/3 of the finished length.  I did not want the embroidery to be in the rod pocket at the top so when I was figuring out where to cut, I made sure to add the rod pocket allowance and seam allowance above the top of the embroidery border.

     I then pressed up a double 2" hem and used Steam-A-Seam2 to fuse it in place.  I didn't want to stitch through the embroidery when doing the hem.

Finished top of the treatment

     For the width I centered to embroidery border and cut off the sides as needed and did a double 1/4" hem on the sides as the original panel had.  I did stitch this with matching thread and you can barely see it.

Ribbon in place

     For the bottom portion, I used the remainder of the panel, cutting it to the proper width and hemming the sides.  I stitched the ribbon in place on the front and back of the bottom portion.

Layered to stitch together

     Then I stitched the top part in place with the right side of the top to the wrong side of the bottom.  Then I flipped it to the right side and sewed the rod pocket, making sure I kept the ribbons straight.

Rod pocket at the top

     Then I prepped the bottom to make another rod pocket that would hold a piece of tubing to give the treatment structure.  I pressed 1/4" to the right side and then folded up 1-3/4" for the pocket and stitched it in place.

Pressed up 1/4"

Measuring for the bottom rod pocket

     I then inserted the tube into the bottom rod pocket.  Now it was time to set the finished length.  These are going to be stationary so I needed to get them all the same.

Prepping to start rolling up the bottom

     Using painter's tape, I taped the top of the treatment to my cutting table.  I then started rolling up the bottom part until it was the desired length.

Setting the finished length

     I then cut the ribbon to the desired length and tied a pretty bow to keep it all in place.

Finished treatment

     I think they turned out very much like the inspiration piece.  I hope she sends me a photo soon to show how they look on her windows.  Below is the photo from my client.

Beginning Sewing - Shorts June 2018

Lars and his sewing bag

     I just finished a three day camp with two boys, brothers 10 and 13.  It was interesting to have only boys in a camp.  They quickly learned the basics of the sewing machine and earned their Sewing Machine Driver's License.

Sage and his sewing bag

     The first day they got their sewing bags cut and did the first set of stitches all around and were ready to start sewing the channels.  On day two they finished their sewing bags and we started on their shorts.  They both wanted longer shorts so after they pinned on their pattern pieces, I drew a line for their new cutting length.

Lars and his shorts

     For Sage's shorts, I had to draft a larger pattern than the ones I had.  He learned about grading to make a pattern larger.  As a testimony to recycling they chose to use old top sheets for their shorts.  We had to get a little creative finding a way to line up the straight of grain line.

Sage and his shorts

     With just a little help from me with the last of the pinning, they were able to finish their shorts.  I learned a bit more boy humor and hopefully they learned a love of creating and sewing.

Remaking Grommet Panels

Measuring the cut line

     I had a client recently that had bought some ready made grommet panels.  They were too long and she wanted them shortened and oh by the way, she really didn't want grommets, just a rod pocket.

Pinning the layers together before cutting

     I started with the math.  She told me the finished length desired, from the bottom of the rod.  I then added one inch for the rod pocket, one and a half inches for the header, plus those same measurements plus another one half inch for folding under.

Cut off grommets

     I then marking my cutting line from the top edge.  I used pins to hold the layers together and then cut off the grommet top.

Serged layers

     I serged the cut edges to keep the layers together, plus the fabric raveled quite bad.  I then tried to press down a 1/2 inch fold, but oops the iron melted the fabric.  Good thing it will all be hidden.

Measuring the first fold

Oops, iron too hot

     I decided to pin the 1/2 inch and stitch it in place.  Then I marked for the rod pocket and header, folding in two and a half inches..

Measuring the second fold

     I stitched close to the fold, forming the bottom of the rod pocket.

Stitching the bottom of the rod pocket

     Then it was time to sew the header/top of the rod pocket.  I needed to stitch one and one half inches from the top edge.  I used blue painters tape and my seam gauge and marked a line on my machine bed.

Marking for the second line of stitching

     Then it was just a matter of sewing by following the line.

Sewing the second line of stitching

    Then using a cooler iron, I spent quite a bit of time pressing out all the creases from the packaging.  I put them on a nice drapery hanger and I was all set.

     Happy client with nicely pressed panels, just the right size.