Valences with Grommets

This past weekend I completed valences for the kitchen nook to match the drapes in the adjacent family room. These valances were made from the 20" I had trimmed off the bottom of each drapery panel so the tops would all align along the same point in the 25" fabric repeat. I put a 2½" hem on the valences where the drape panels had a 4½" hem but otherwise it was the same process to make each valence as it was to make the floor to ceiling drapes. I was able to get all four valences sewn in one day and my husband encouraged me by getting the rods up even before I'd finished them. Like with the long panels, he supplied brute force to help crimp the grommets in place, 8 per valence. The two windows are 4 feet and 6 feet wide. Putting two valences on each window would have given an uneven wavelike density. I solved this by having one valence span the corner, 5 of the 8 grommets on one window rod and the remaining 3 spilling over onto the other rod. The small window rod held 13 grommets and the larger window rod held 19 grommets. The ratios are close enough to equal – 13/19 = 0.68 and 4/6 = 0.67 – that the valence fabric looks evenly distributed. And that valence that spanned two rods, rounded the corner nicely.

In my post for June 28, 2018 I described in detail how I'd made the floor-to-ceiling length drapes for the adjacent family room and installed the grommets. I had turned over 4½" at the top edge and stitched on a 4½" wide non-woven heading stiffener butted up to the fold. Then I wrapped ½" of the fabric over the lower edge of the stiffener and zigzagged in place. For the valences, I did not have the luxury of enough length from what I'd cut off the bottoms to cover the stiffener with the same fabric so instead I sewed on a facing of a cream colored fabric of similar weight and butted the stiffener up to the seam, wrapping the lower ½" of facing fabric over the stiffener. The facing does not show at all on the back side of the valences. I made all four valences in one day – a source of great joy compared to how I dragged out sewing the floor to ceiling panels. There is also the minor detail that I was not hauling around 8 feet of fabric all the time. But more importantly, having done it before recently, I knew the pitfalls. This one day did not count the shopping time expended before I sat down to sew the valences. I needed to find and buy the facing fabric and get more heading stiffener. I had to go to two stores to get enough of the stiffener. Still I was glad this project did not linger or languish. Now about those circle cutouts for the grommet installation...

I have added 32 more of these circles to bring my total up to 64 circles. Gee, I just realized that if I split them apart from the stiffener, I will have 128 circles! Wow! This second batch of 32 has cream on the backside, lending itself to more variety and creativity. A comment on the post about the long drapes suggested I appliqué them on a pillow. That would be a lot of pillows. Surely I must do something with these. They look like they should float upward on a wall hanging, denser on the bottom more spaced apart toward on top.  I envision something flowing and artistic like the bubbles in a glass of champagne. Dream on. The circles will probably age in a ziplock bag in a drawer somewhere while I ponder over them or forget about them. Alas, at least if they were donut holes they would get eaten!