STRIPED CASCADES

Cascades (aka Jabots) are graceful finishes to many different treatments. Most of the time they are paired with swags, but they are often used on cornices and other valance treatments.

Traditionally, they are cut on the straight of grain, or railroaded. Their clean folds and straight lines lend themselves naturally to straight cuts.

However, a stripe fabric is not always an ideal choice for cascades. In this picture, the cascades have been paired with swags. Even though the swags are cut on the straight of grain, the folds turn the stripe on a slant. The cascades look especially rigid and do not complement the gentle folds of the swags.

Other times, when folded, an entire color or stripe might be lost on the cascades - as shown in this picture. The cascades have completely lost the strong burgundy stripe in the swags.

Here we have an alternative to cutting the cascade on the straight of grain. The pattern has been turned on the fabric so that the slant edge of the pattern follows the bold stripe. The result is a striped cascade which has a naturally banded leading edge, in which no colors are lost or minimized and whose slant lines complement the gentle folds of the swags. Surprisingly, the folds of the cascade drape and hang better. I have found also that the distortion at the bottom point does not happen either.

If the lining is cut the same, you have a natural banding along the leading edge of the lining also.

This look may or may not be desirable to your client, but it is a wonderful option to offer them to create a truly custom look.

To cut on the slant:

Slide the pattern so the slant edge follows one of the stripes on the fabric. Position the pattern so that it is 1/2" past the stripe. This will be your seam allowance. Cut and fabricate as normal.

Please note that cutting the cascade this way does require more fabric. You must know when you are calculating fabric requirements that you will require additional fabric.

On this pattern, the only straight of grain seam will be the slant edge. The outside edge, top and leading edge are all cut off of grain. You must handle and seam with care. Do not allow the edges to stretch. It is not difficult to handle these, but you must be careful.

Oh, and don't forget to reverse the pattern for right and left hand cascades.

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