Cutting and draping

by John W. Stephenson

The bottom of the shade need not be scalloped unless the material is heavy, as the act of shirring it lengthwise and across forces the fullness to take that shape.

The bottoms of the shirrings are weighted to keep the lines perpendicular. This is accomplished either by a small rod covered with the material, as left of Figure [96A], or by small bags of shot covered with the material and attached to the bottom of each shirring.

The rod, while not so unobtrusive as the bags, has the advantage of keeping the bottom spread full width, separate weights having a tendency to swing toward the centre.

The shade is drawn up and lowered by means of cords passed through screw-eyes at the top of the window, down through the brass rings and attached to the bottom weights. After passing through the screw-eyes at the top they are led to a pulley at the side, as indicated by Figure [96], and all adjusted to draw evenly, fastened together and attached to a cleat. They may also be manipulated by attaching the cords to a shade roller after they pass through the screw-eyes.

The roller is provided with spools either turned up in wood or made by tacking a ridge of leather around the roller, allowing a spool-like space between, and the cords are wound several times around these, while the shade hangs full length; the free bottom ends are then attached to the weights, as before explained, and the whole manipulated by the free cord at the end (X, Figure [96B]), as explained for raising and lowering the shade illustrated in Figure [90].

If the roller is swelled toward the centre by wrapping with leather or by using graduated spools, as Figures [98] and [96B], the shade will draw up in an arching shape, as indicated by dotted lines in Figure [96A], the larger spools in the centre consuming more cord each revolution than the smaller ones at the ends, and hence drawing the curtain up faster in the centre, producing the arched effect.

If the cords are mounted on a plain roller without spring-winding attachment, as Figure [99], the manipulating cord is wound on it the reverse way, and is all wound on when the shade is down, so that pulling on it causes the roller to revolve, winding up the other cords, and, releasing it, allows the weight of the shade to unwind the roller and causes the shade to descend.

In measuring for shades, some decorators measure for the cloth only and have the rollers cut and mounted accordingly, either at the house or in the shop. We have found it best to measure for the rollers by selecting the most convenient place for the bracket and making the cloth to fit the rollers. Figure [94] illustrates a modern window trim, showing by crosses the most convenient places for placing shade brackets, those enclosed in circles representing inside brackets and the plain crosses outside brackets.

The illustration of a window’s elevation, Figure [78] in the chapter on sash curtains, also shows the positions of double shades on the face of the window frame—C, the roller of the light shade, and H the bottom of the shade, and D the roller of the dark shade, with F the bottom of the shade.

Always measure for shades with a rule, as tape-lines are unreliable, and put down the measurement accurately in feet and inches, being careful to make a decided stroke or dot between the feet and inches, as 2 = 2—6 × 9—0 means two shades two feet six inches wide by nine feet long, and the obliteration of the strokes between vastly alters the sizes.