Drapery panels at 25 widths each? Have you ever been asked to make a really wide drapery panel? What did you do? Did you turn and run the other way? Or did you accept the drapery panel project and then wonder how you were going to tackle the job? I was recently hired to [...]
Designs by Donna is located in the cute town of Flowery Branch, GA. So let me show you around downtown, in case you're wondering what there is to do when you come and visit while taking a workshop at Designs by Donna. Flowery Branch crossroads of Railroad Ave. and Main St. Don't you love [...]
Won't you be our guest? When it comes to creating a guest room, comfort is key. Therefore, a guest room should be a warm and welcoming space so include some of the amenities found in a hotel room and have the intimacy and charm of a home. Listed below are 8 of [...]
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. [...]
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. [...]
The first set of Ripplefold draperies I made was probably about twenty years ago. It was wall to wall and floor to ceiling and it was a cranberry, textured cotton fabric. Yup, it's true, I remember the exact color and texture! Oh, and it was made using blackout lining. And twenty years ago blackout linings [...]
I love it when a designer tells me I'm a genius! That is what designer Deborah Hebert and her client said after hearing I would be able to provide hobbled roman shades valances for the bay window in a breakfast room. The problem, they thought, was the door on the right side which opens into [...]
Every custom made window treatment is just that - custom. There is no such thing as a 'standard' window whether it be a single, double, or even triple window. Each window has a different measurement. That is why, at Designs by Donna, we draft a full size pattern for each of the window valances we [...]