The New Fabric Magic - Hardcover

Paine, Melanie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0711209642 ISBN 13: 9780711209640

Publisher: Frances Lincoln Ltd, 1995

This revised and updated guide to soft furnishings reflects the look and mood of today's interiors. It helps readers design and create soft furnishings, from curtains and blinds to bed canopies and chair covers. The numerous techniques covered include: making roller, Roman, festoon and inverted pleat blinds; making lined and interlined curtains using pencil pleat, French pleat, box pleat, gathered, bunch, slot, goblet and scalloped headings; draping and dressing sheers and curtains with swags and tails, tie-bands, pelmets and valances; transforming fabrics by layering, joining, pleating, stitching, adding edgings and insetting borders; and making loose covers, bedlinen and tablecloths. The ideas are affordable and stylish, and should inspire anyone wanting to make professional-looking soft furnishings themselves or to commission others to create the perfect result. Melanie Paine is the author of "Textile Classics" and (with Caroline Clifton-Mogg) "The Curtain Book".

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Review:

Fabric, declares the author, is "the most exciting element" in decorating a room. Leaf through her attractive book and you'll see why. A wide range of styles is embodied here, from the opulence of a Renaissance-style hallway adorned in red silk to the lushness of creamy cotton drapes puddled on the floor to the contemporary lines of smartly striped Roman blinds to the rustic charm of gingham curtains. Melanie Paine explains how to choose, combine, manipulate, and paint on fabrics, as well as how to choose a style for window dressing, beds and bedding, and fabric coverings for walls and furnishings and ceilings. Although step-by-step directions are provided throughout for many of the items (such as various types of blinds, curtains, and bed covers), this is not a basic instructional how-to book. The New Fabric Magic is most successful and appealing as an idea book, filled with wonderful ways to use fabric to make rooms come alive.

From the Inside Flap:

The best-selling guide to decorating with fabric, revised and updated with new photographs and techniques, including:

Transforming fabrics by layering, joining, pleating, stitching, adding edgings, and inserting borders.

Coloring fabrics by painting, patting, daubing, spattering, stenciling, tie-dye, and wax-resist.

Making roller, Roman, Austrian, and inverted-pleat shades.

Making lined and interlined curtains using pencil pleat, French pleat, box pleat, gathered, bunch, slot, scalloped, and goblet headings.

Draping and dressing sheers and curtains with swags and tails, tie-bands, cornices, and valances.

Making bed linen for a wide range of bed styles -- duvets, pillowcases, dust ruffles, and bedspreads.

Covering screens.

Making box, throw, and "hamburger" cushions.

Making table cloths.

Basic sewing techniques, from mitering corners to inserting zippers.

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