Is crushed velvet good for roman blinds?

[kathy]

Hello I have been asked by a customer for Roman blinds for these windows, because the cusomer already has a pair of 3 width curtains in Romo Palazzo Butterbean she would like these curtains taken apart and made into Roman Blinds plus order additional fabric for the blinds for the rest of the windows.

Now having never worked with velvet, I phoned the shop I do some work for and asked the about the fabric and they said - we dont stock Romo they are too expensive and other than that we dont touch crushed velvet its a nightmare, roman blinds will look awful.

So please tell me should I advise the customer against this!!!

Question 1 - Has anyone used this fabric ?? The first fabric choosen was Romo Ferrente but customer decided it was too expensive.
Question 2 - Any ideas for window treatments

[attachment=0:2j2a99jh]jackie lounge2.jpg[/attachment:2j2a99jh]
[attachment=1:2j2a99jh]jackie lounge1.jpg[/attachment:2j2a99jh]

[suel]

Re: Is crushed velvet good for roman blinds?

Hi Kathy,

What lovely windows. No I have never used this fabric. In my opinion I would not make romans in velvet or crushed velvet. I would also not want to take some curtains apart to make them from, as this could turn up some nasty suprises. I certainly would never remake anything unless it had been properly cleaned, in which case if you have to add additional fabric, you can be sure that the colour will have changed from the original.

If you do make these, make sure you charge for all the extra additional time for taking apart, don't under estimate that as it is suprising how long it takes.

If you add the cleaning costs, plus all the extra time involved, plus the risk factor, the price may not be an issue and the customer may rather have brand new with a more practical choice of fabric.

You are the professional so give her your honest opinion, and if she wants to go ahead make sure she realises that it is at her risk.

Good Luck.
Sue.

[Louise]

Re: Is crushed velvet good for roman blinds?

When I looked at various roman blind sites recently (the posting about web sites and pricing) several of them stated they would not make romans from horizontal stripes or velvets.

[Schuhby]

Re: Is crushed velvet good for roman blinds?

The first point I'd like to make here is that the fabric in question is a Romo fabric and not to be confused with a cheap crushed velvet sold at £3.99 a metre on the local market. I have used Romo fabrics on numerous occasions and have only ever found them to be of the highest quality and their fabrics certainly warrant the price tag.

With regards to the design, I feel roman blinds on these windows would be a design error and ruin the windows and the view they provide. I would suggest a quality bay pole be introduced as part of the design and hang overlong curtains with fancy tops, maybe goblet pleat. You could also look at lite weight curtain, summery feel with simple tie tops, this style would suite the windows better while the sun shines though. If they client really wants blinds, then I'd suggest austrian blinds, soft gathers and not to full.

Louise mentions sites that will not make roman blinds using either velvet or horizontal stripes - the reason for this is most probably because they would need to put more effort into making the blinds and getting them made correctly. Most shops, both internet and High St still make roman blinds using tape and couldn't use this method for velvet fabrics. Secondly, if they used horizontal stripes they would have to make their blinds perfectly square, we all know that doesn't always happen, not even with one or two of the big High St names. Point being, they aren't advising against using certain fabrics, they're saying they won't use these fabrics - Telling the average buyer not to use them because they aren't suitable..

Philip

[Tam]

Re: Is crushed velvet good for roman blinds?

Wow what lovely windows! stunning roomsets too. Ohhh a nice juciy job from scratch!

I agree with what Philip has mentioned < I use romo and villa nova the majority of the time and the quality of thier velvets are second to none ( says she who seem to be working with nothing but lately ~ curtains not blinds tho!) The only hesitation I would have is,, if its a heavy velvet it has a tendancy to sag once hung so the tension throughout the blind needs to be carefully handled so as not to over stretch nor leave loose so that when hung it has sag lines. ~Dont try to fold the fabric or you'll flatten the pile and its sometimes not possible to remove the "bruise " lines~ learnt that one the hard way too.

I cant see a problem in using the velvet BUT it does take an awful lot longer to make. You will definately need a velvet mat, dont consider trying to make them without one.

If recycling the existing fabric as ~Sue says ~ make sure you take your time into consideration, undoing curtains takes quite sometime and dont touch them unless theyve been professionally cleaned and are not faded in places.

Looking at the photos , I can see you have a potential problem with the bressemar( spelling? ) lintel accross the front of both the bays. This will mean opting for a pole will result in no finials being used as there are no sidelays, so I can see why romans are an option.

The thing I cant see from the photos is how the sill finishes on the front bay, you might need to template the top and take the curtains under the lintel otherwise the curtains will stop short of the architraves either side because of the lintel.

Dress Curtains could also go on the inside of the front bay to soften the look and functioning central romans but it may drown the window. If your client is adamant on having romans on the front bay , how about suggesting a nice set of dress curtains on a pole on the outside of the bay, puddled and nicely dressed with tie backs and a roman blinds to the window to function and give privacy. Its alot more fabric though!

[attachment=0:3e4ikozs]Triple_pleat_on_pole_roman_blind_bay.jpg[/attachment:3e4ikozs]

I'd be interested how others overcome bressemar lintels????

One thing I dont like to see is full length roman blinds on patio doors, they just dont look right, so with that in mind I would opt for some lush curtains on the patio doors ~no roman blinds ~the stack up lengths would also be a problem, the door roman blinds would be much longer than the side windows.

To be honest it depends what look your client is after in the room, roman blinds are hugely popular here in the south , most opting for a more contemporary look and the neatness of romans look great in that respect.

I would go back and have a chat with your cient and give her a few more options to the design tbo. Your choice is endless! You only know your abilities and whether you could cope with using velvet as an option.

Hope you get it sorted soon,

[kathy]

Re: Is crushed velvet good for roman blinds?

Thank you all very much for your help and ideas, I will go back to the customer and talk to her.

She actually wanted eyelet curtains at the patio doors, then said no, do blinds and then changed her mind again, I think eyelets will look really odd as I don't know how the pole will look with a blind either side? She has a mad cat and dog about the same side as each other and always tormenting each other, so I think she was trying to avoid the cat running up the curtains by having blinds.

I am concerned about the weight of these blinds I have to say, I dont seem to worried about the fabric - but I would hate for it to go wrong, because that would knock my confidence!

Kathy

[tRUECOL]

Re: Is crushed velvet good for roman blinds?

Hi Kathy,

I also use Romo for my clients, and agree the fabric is excellent. The only comment i would add, is that if your client is going to "add" extra fabric if required, I presume from what you have said it will be the same fabric? There is bound to be some colour difference, not only will the new fabric be froma different batch, but also the old fabric has probably faded by now. I think it would be very obvious which is the old and which is the new fabric.

[kathy]

Re: Is crushed velvet good for roman blinds?

HI Truecol

I did mention this to the customer and she wasn't too bothered by this - I would make enough blinds out of the curtains for one window and then order more of the same colour for the other window, i think it will be ok, the colour is cream - have you made blinds out of this fabric Truecol?

[tRUECOL]

Re: Is crushed velvet good for roman blinds?

Hi Kathy,

I have used it for curtains in black, but not blinds. It is quite a heavy weight velvet - not sure I would use it on blinds.

[Flooz]

Re: Is crushed velvet good for roman blinds?

One thing that immediately came to my mind here is the way any velvet appears a difference colour depending on which way up it is - if you know what i mean. with the pleats of roman blinds, this may create a colour issue............

but then again, i'm not a professional. Haven't done anything in velvet, crushed or otherwise. It might be a good idea to hold the velvet up each way and see if that's going to cause an issue........

[thecurtainmaker]

Re: Is crushed velvet good for roman blinds?

That shouldn't be a problem - the part going the wrong way will be hidden as it will be behind the pleat. You may have problems with the pile crushing though on the folds, so as long as your customer is aware!
Regards

[Flooz]

Re: Is crushed velvet good for roman blinds?

I thought that too Pen, but then again thought the colour would shade differently as it 'turns' into the fold too. I not entirely sure though - guess it would be one of those 'try it in mock and see' scenarios.........

[nic]

Re: Is crushed velvet good for roman blinds?

Yes, you should advise the customer against this. I'd go for sill length for the one, and full length for the door, on poles. The cat will climb the blinds in the evenings, she should discipline the dog. Cats and dogs that are in the same household should live together amicably, if they don't, it's the owner's fault. And I don't think I'd use crushed velvet downstairs, except perhaps in a library, although I realise that is a personal view, and there must be hundreds of rooms where it would look wonderful. As for reusing to make blinds, this is, in my opinion, not going to look as good as you can do, through no fault of yours, and isn't going to be a good reflection of your skills. She'd be better compromising on fabric price and getting the best of your skill for beautiful curtains, it's possible to make wonderful curtains out of inexpensive fabrics like calico and ticking, with a little imagination.
Sorry. Mrs. Grumpy, today.

[nic]

Re: Is crushed velvet good for roman blinds?

Oh, and I think blinds made from crushed velet would look fab in the right room, but not this one. Or from recycled curtains.

[kathy]

Re: Is crushed velvet good for roman blinds?

Thank everyone for your replies, I still havent had a chance to talk to the customer regarding this job, she text me a week or two ago to say that she has been hectic ad her daughter was ill and will get back to me soon.

She is a slow customer and I know she will contact me at some point.

I do value all your comments and will let you know what the outcome is on this.

Thanks Kathy