Working With Soft Furnishings : A Practical Guide To Professional Techniques :

This text includes information for the experienced amateur or would-be professional on setting up their own business, with advice on the equipment required and professional practice also provided. There is practical information on the basic techniques needed, including measuring fabric and making curtains, pelmets, tiebacks, swags, tails, cushions, valances, blinds and bed drapes.

Dunkerley, who runs a soft furnishings business and teaches at the KLC School of Interior Design, explains the construction of curtains, draperies, and cushions and shows how a reader might run his or her own business creating soft furnishings for a living. Unfortunately, the completed projects are well illustrated, but the instructions are illustrated with murky drawings that muddle rather than illuminate the text. Those seeking project guidance are better served by other current window treatment books, such as Heather Luke's Design and Make Curtains & Drapes (LJ 5/15/96) and Yvonne Rees's Quick & Easy: Curtains and Blinds (LJ 1/96).
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Dunkerley's manual contains advanced sewing techniques, together with useful advice for arranging work space and for professionally selling one's designs for window treatments, coordinated cushions, and fabric blinds. Colorful photographs show numerous examples of room decor, complemented by handsomely appointed windows complete with swags, valances, or hard pelmets. Black-and-white drawings are utilized to illustrate technical details, such as step-by-step assembly of tiebacks and trimmings. An attractive and practical resource for traditional to lavish decorating elements--for everything from French doors to bed curtains to windows spanning an entire wall. Alice Joyce