Custom drapes shrunk - what to do?

[Anonymous]

Maybe they can restretched?

[Anonymous]

Wow what a nightmare. Maybe they can add a border fabric on the bottom but this seems completely unacceptable.

[Anonymous]

Drapery workroom owner here. To clarify, is it just the face fabric that appears to be shrinking, or the liner also (i.e., is that bottom of the liner closer to the bottom of the drape than it used to be, or is the distance the same)? Are you seeing any puckering in the side seams?

Is this a high humidity room? Are there wall or floor vents behind or directly under the drapes?

[Anonymous]

How frustrating! I hope you gets satisfaction with this problem that is in no way your fault. Please post the name of the fabric so we can avoid ordering it, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow what a nightmare. Maybe they can add a border fabric on the bottom but this seems completely unacceptable.

I was going to suggest adding a coordinating fabric to get it to the original length. No cost to you and only as a last resort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Drapery workroom owner here. To clarify, is it just the face fabric that appears to be shrinking, or the liner also (i.e., is that bottom of the liner closer to the bottom of the drape than it used to be, or is the distance the same)? Are you seeing any puckering in the side seams?

Is this a high humidity room? Are there wall or floor vents behind or directly under the drapes?

I asked about the side seams and she said no puckering, which seems impossible? Or maybe they’re only shrunken in the middle?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drapery workroom owner here. To clarify, is it just the face fabric that appears to be shrinking, or the liner also (i.e., is that bottom of the liner closer to the bottom of the drape than it used to be, or is the distance the same)? Are you seeing any puckering in the side seams?

Is this a high humidity room? Are there wall or floor vents behind or directly under the drapes?

I asked about the side seams and she said no puckering, which seems impossible? Or maybe they’re only shrunken in the middle?

Yeah, I saw that and it didn’t make any sense to me either, which is why I asked for clarification.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drapery workroom owner here. To clarify, is it just the face fabric that appears to be shrinking, or the liner also (i.e., is that bottom of the liner closer to the bottom of the drape than it used to be, or is the distance the same)? Are you seeing any puckering in the side seams?

Is this a high humidity room? Are there wall or floor vents behind or directly under the drapes?

I asked about the side seams and she said no puckering, which seems impossible? Or maybe they’re only shrunken in the middle?

Yeah, I saw that and it didn’t make any sense to me either, which is why I asked for clarification.

I agree, if the face fabric shrunk 3 inches, but not the liner (which is blackout liner like in 100s of other houses where it doesn’t shrink), wouldn’t the liner now be showing from underneath? And wouldn’t the side seams now be a big mess? 3 inches is so much. I think something else must be going on I just don’t know what it could be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drapery workroom owner here. To clarify, is it just the face fabric that appears to be shrinking, or the liner also (i.e., is that bottom of the liner closer to the bottom of the drape than it used to be, or is the distance the same)? Are you seeing any puckering in the side seams?

Is this a high humidity room? Are there wall or floor vents behind or directly under the drapes?

I asked about the side seams and she said no puckering, which seems impossible? Or maybe they’re only shrunken in the middle?

Yeah, I saw that and it didn’t make any sense to me either, which is why I asked for clarification.

OP here. I admit I’m not entirely sure what to look for regarding the liner. It looks normal to me. I probably have never even turned the curtains over before to look at the lining, so not sure if it’s the same as before. It’s not a blackout liner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drapery workroom owner here. To clarify, is it just the face fabric that appears to be shrinking, or the liner also (i.e., is that bottom of the liner closer to the bottom of the drape than it used to be, or is the distance the same)? Are you seeing any puckering in the side seams?

Is this a high humidity room? Are there wall or floor vents behind or directly under the drapes?

I asked about the side seams and she said no puckering, which seems impossible? Or maybe they’re only shrunken in the middle?

Yeah, I saw that and it didn’t make any sense to me either, which is why I asked for clarification.

I agree, if the face fabric shrunk 3 inches, but not the liner (which is blackout liner like in 100s of other houses where it doesn’t shrink), wouldn’t the liner now be showing from underneath? And wouldn’t the side seams now be a big mess? 3 inches is so much. I think something else must be going on I just don’t know what it could be.

The liner starts about an inch above the bottom of the curtains, but don’t know if that’s different from before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drapery workroom owner here. To clarify, is it just the face fabric that appears to be shrinking, or the liner also (i.e., is that bottom of the liner closer to the bottom of the drape than it used to be, or is the distance the same)? Are you seeing any puckering in the side seams?

Is this a high humidity room? Are there wall or floor vents behind or directly under the drapes?

I asked about the side seams and she said no puckering, which seems impossible? Or maybe they’re only shrunken in the middle?

Yeah, I saw that and it didn’t make any sense to me either, which is why I asked for clarification.

OP here. I admit I’m not entirely sure what to look for regarding the liner. It looks normal to me. I probably have never even turned the curtains over before to look at the lining, so not sure if it’s the same as before. It’s not a blackout liner.

NP. If the fabric is shrinking and the liner isn't, then you would definitely notice. The fact that they are both shrinking at the same rate is weird.

While not a professional, I have made a lot of lined custom draperies for myself, my sister and my mom. And I am in contact with a bunch of people who are the same advanced hobby seamsters as me. None of us have ever heard of both the fabric and the lining shrinking at the same rate. Especially since I believe you indicated above that you used upholstery fabric. Upholstery fabric is heavier and thicker than drapery fabric and that makes it more durable. And that goes doubly true for liner fabric, which is much more lightweight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drapery workroom owner here. To clarify, is it just the face fabric that appears to be shrinking, or the liner also (i.e., is that bottom of the liner closer to the bottom of the drape than it used to be, or is the distance the same)? Are you seeing any puckering in the side seams?

Is this a high humidity room? Are there wall or floor vents behind or directly under the drapes?

I asked about the side seams and she said no puckering, which seems impossible? Or maybe they’re only shrunken in the middle?

Yeah, I saw that and it didn’t make any sense to me either, which is why I asked for clarification.

OP here. I admit I’m not entirely sure what to look for regarding the liner. It looks normal to me. I probably have never even turned the curtains over before to look at the lining, so not sure if it’s the same as before. It’s not a blackout liner.

NP. If the fabric is shrinking and the liner isn't, then you would definitely notice. The fact that they are both shrinking at the same rate is weird.

While not a professional, I have made a lot of lined custom draperies for myself, my sister and my mom. And I am in contact with a bunch of people who are the same advanced hobby seamsters as me. None of us have ever heard of both the fabric and the lining shrinking at the same rate. Especially since I believe you indicated above that you used upholstery fabric. Upholstery fabric is heavier and thicker than drapery fabric and that makes it more durable. And that goes doubly true for liner fabric, which is much more lightweight.

Yes it’s upholstery fabric.

All I know is the drapes are off the floor and now measure approx 3 inches less than from the original order.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drapery workroom owner here. To clarify, is it just the face fabric that appears to be shrinking, or the liner also (i.e., is that bottom of the liner closer to the bottom of the drape than it used to be, or is the distance the same)? Are you seeing any puckering in the side seams?

Is this a high humidity room? Are there wall or floor vents behind or directly under the drapes?

I asked about the side seams and she said no puckering, which seems impossible? Or maybe they’re only shrunken in the middle?

Yeah, I saw that and it didn’t make any sense to me either, which is why I asked for clarification.

OP here. I admit I’m not entirely sure what to look for regarding the liner. It looks normal to me. I probably have never even turned the curtains over before to look at the lining, so not sure if it’s the same as before. It’s not a blackout liner.

NP. If the fabric is shrinking and the liner isn't, then you would definitely notice. The fact that they are both shrinking at the same rate is weird.

While not a professional, I have made a lot of lined custom draperies for myself, my sister and my mom. And I am in contact with a bunch of people who are the same advanced hobby seamsters as me. None of us have ever heard of both the fabric and the lining shrinking at the same rate. Especially since I believe you indicated above that you used upholstery fabric. Upholstery fabric is heavier and thicker than drapery fabric and that makes it more durable. And that goes doubly true for liner fabric, which is much more lightweight.

Not just the fabric and liner, but also the thread and stitches to avoid puckering in the side seams. I don’t know what’s going on with these drapes, but shrinkage doesn’t make sense based on what OP described.

[Anonymous]

Never heard of such a thing. Your home must be humid or something. The designer didn’t make the fabric. The upholtery guys just made the drapes. See if the Upholterer can work with the hem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never heard of such a thing. Your home must be humid or something. The designer didn’t make the fabric. The upholtery guys just made the drapes. See if the Upholterer can work with the hem.

Ok but we have drapes in many other rooms and I don’t live in a humid part of the country. This hasn’t happened to the drapes in other rooms.