This breakfast nook was a turning point for me, and it went on to win our first award: 1st Place in the 2013 Window Fashions VISION Workroom Competition for Curtains & Draperies.
At the time, Stitch Above the Rest was still taking shape. I was designing and fabricating custom work from my home studio, building the business the only way I knew how: with hands-on care, true craftsmanship, and a belief that the smallest details are often what make a room extraordinary.
At first glance, these london shades look effortless…soft, tailored, perfectly at home in the space. But behind the scenes, this was one of the most exacting pattern-matching challenges I had ever taken on.
The Vision: Complete Continuity
The client’s goal was wonderfully specific. She wanted the treatments to feel as though you had taken a roll of fabric, wrapped it around the entire room, and simply “cut out” the windows, as if the walls and the shades were one continuous textile story.
To make that illusion work, the pattern had to align perfectly both horizontally and vertically with the upholstered walls. Anything less would have broken the spell.
The Challenge: Precision Pattern Matching
Here’s what made this project so tough: there were only 11 yards of fabric left to work with after the upholsterer had finished the walls. The fabric was expensive, discontinued, and there was absolutely no room for waste.
Then came the curveballs. First, the upholsterer had installed the wall fabric ½ inch off center, which caused the pattern to “creep” upward as it wrapped around the room. Additionally, the manufacturer’s print was also ¼ inch off center in the opposite direction.
So instead of meeting in the middle, the pattern was fighting itself from two directions. And because historically, real-life rooms are never perfectly square, there was no cookie-cutter template I could follow.
The Workroom Solution
To solve it, each shade had to be engineered individually. No two were identical, because each one was designed to match the wall in its exact location, vertically and horizontally, while still functioning as a working shade.
There was a lot of measuring, a lot of re-measuring, showing up to the client’s home for one more measure, and a lot of trusting in the process. But the goal never changed. Make the pattern placement look seamless, and make the shades fully operable.
That’s what true custom work requires, not just sewing skill, but problem-solving, patience, and a commitment to getting the details right even when the materials and the space aren’t making it easy.
The Result
The finished shades did exactly what the client hoped. They completed the breakfast nook with softness and privacy, but also with a sense of design continuity that made the whole room feel wrapped in intention.
When we stepped back and saw everything aligned, she celebrated the only way that felt right — by popping open a bottle of pink champagne right there in the room.
Not long after, this project earned that VISION Award, my first professional recognition for the kind of craftsmanship I had been quietly pouring into my work for years.
Looking Back, Looking Ahead
What makes this project even sweeter now is remembering where Stitch Above the Rest was at the time. This award-winning work was designed and made out of my home, built on the same curiosity and care that first led me to fall in love with fabric and sewing.
Today, we’ve grown into a full-service showroom and workroom in Woodstock, Georgia, and we’re still rooted in that same commitment to precision, craftsmanship, and listening closely to each client’s vision. The tools are bigger, the team is larger, and the projects are more expansive, but the heart of what we do is unchanged.
Dreaming up something custom (and a little complicated)? That’s our sweet spot. Schedule a consultation and let’s design it together.
A Step Back in Time: Historic Jabots at Margaretta Hall
