I hope your year has been a good one too and that 2018 brings you good health and much joy! At Designs by Donna my mission is: To use my passion, gifts, and abilities to bring joy and beauty into the lives of others through exquisite design, teaching, and sharing.
Working with difficult fabrics can be challenging and stressful unless you first determine your course of action. This is the second edition of working with difficult fabrics. I'll show you how I used upholstery weight silk velvet to make narrow bands on silk taffeta panels. Now these are two fabrics that couldn't be more incompatible. [...]
Have you ever had to work with difficult fabrics? If you've been sewing for any length of time, you probably have. You know the ones. The slippery fabrics that move around the table by themselves. Or the loosely woven fabrics that begin to fray the moment you begin cutting. Or fabrics with a nap, such as velvet, where special [...]
When making multi width drapery panels, adding an interlock stitch at the seams will help keep the seams lined up as they hang. Without this stitch the fabric layers may shift making the draperies look untidy or messy. Sewing the interlock stitch is quick and easy when using your thumb to pinky measurement. Here are [...]
Fabric arriving at Designs by Donna is checked in and inspected as soon as it arrives. Doing so may avoid delays with the project if any flaws, inconsistencies in the repeat, or wrong yardage amounts are found upon inspection. And the same is true for drapery hardware received. Check-in fabric and hardware as soon as it arrives. [...]
As a soft home furnishings designer and fabricator, I am passionate about embellishing my creations. This embellishment I call the Flowing Flower Embellishment and I use this on drapery panels, window valances, or pillow covers, just to name a few. The source for my flowing flower inspiration was this picture of a sweater in a [...]