Make swag window treatments like a pro
If you aspire to making your own swag window treatments, the good news is that you can! It's one of the most rewarding aspects of making your own drapery.
Many people think they are capable of making curtains, but not top treatments. This is just not true! If you can cut fabric, sew it, and are prepared to put in a bit of practice, there's no reason why you can't make really great swag treatments.
Here we'll deal with some of the basic issues before you go on to designing and cutting out your swags.
Fabric quantity
The only reliable way to work out the quantity of fabric you'll need for your swag window treatment is to work out the design, make the patterns and measure them.
A rough rule of thumb for the drop is to multiply the swag length by 2.3
But the exact quantity you'll need for the vertical fullness will vary. How many folds you have in the swag, plus thickness of interlining and fabric will all have an effect.
Swag using more than one width. This is to illustrate how you work out from a central width. When made up, joins in swags are almost invisible.
The number of widths you'll use depends on the width of the swags. So the best way to go about it is to work out how many swags you want to use, and whether they will all be the same size.
Initial ideas
It will help you if you know a few basics about swags. Things to do and not to do. Here are some hints on how to decide on the final design.
When making swags, you first work out the shape you want.
Swag shapes are always draped first, then transferred to a pattern. You can find out how to do this on the swag patterns page. A slightly different way of making a pattern can be found here.
But before you move on further, get lots of old fabric. Fabric or linings from old drapes are ideal. Or buy some really inexpensive lining. You can then use this to practice forming different swag shapes.
Once you have your pattern, you can then go ahead and sew the swag components together.
The majority of swag treatments include cascades. These are easy to make, and once you've decided on the style to use, you can go ahead and complete the cascades.
Standard or staggered pleats?
As I mentioned in the introduction to swags, I prefer the standard pleats. This is where the pleats all begin at the top left and right (as shown in the illustration above). I think standard pleats look better. They are also easier to make, so that's the style we'll be going with.
A place to make your swags
To fix your swags when you're designing them, you'll need somewhere to pin them. In the section on your workroom I advised having a table with felt on it. If you have this you can pin the swags to the edge of the table.
Otherwise you'll need to find somewhere else to do this. You could use a large pin board, or the back of an old sofa.
More art than science
Although professional workrooms have patterns for swags, they also have to make them from the beginning from time to time. Once you know the size you want, there's a simple process you can follow to work out the swag pattern.