30 Minutes with Workroom Tech: Episode 112 / Balloon Shades

In this episode of The Sew Much More Podcast: 30 Minutes with Workroom Tech, Ceil DiGuglielmo and Susan Woodcock talk about balloon shades.

You can listen to this episode here:

Episode 112: Balloon Shades

Window treatment style trends come and go so it shouldn't be a surprise that balloon shades are back. According to Veranda magazine, "the iconic '90's style is back and chicer than ever"! See that article here

If you are new to the workroom and design industry, you might not be familiar with balloon shades. Here is a look at balloon shades and their cousins, the London shade and Austrian shade. Each is created by adding fulness in different ways.

To update the balloon shade style, use lesser fullness for a less exaggerated shape and light filtering or sheer materials. Small scale trims, ruffles or banding can be used to define edges and add extra details.

The gathered balloon shade shown below from Markham Roberts, Inc. is Susan's personal favorite version of the classic balloon shade. Note the delicate, tiny gathered ruffle along the edges. The silk fabric creates the perfect "pouf" shape, reflects light and looks sculptural and luxurious.

You can layer balloon shades with valances and draperies. This creates the ultimate dressed window! Balloon shades can be functional if the materials used will drape without too many creases. The imperfections are perfection with this style. The rooms below by Michael Simon Interiors, Inc. show how dramatic and beautiful balloon shades can be on large windows.

When planning balloon shades, the fullness combined with the horizontal spacing of the lift cords determines and size and shape of the sections. Too much fullness can create a baggy bottom scalloped shape. A good starting point is to divide the finished width by 10 inches to decide how many sections or poufs for the shade. For example, 45 inches divided by 10 = 4.5 and you will round up or down for 4 or 5 poufs. Most often you want the spacing to be greater than 10 so that the sections are not too close together - choose 4 sections for a 45 inch finished width. But, there are always exceptions and it is worth your time to make a mock-up with muslin or drapery lining first.

Making balloon shades stationary - set to a fixed length - is a great idea. Plan for a minimum of 3 extra folds at the bottom of the shade. The box pleated balloon shade below is raised to a fixed position and dressed.

With box pleated balloon shades, you will want to hide seams inside the pleats, behind the back of a fold. Making a paper pattern or drawing it out on graph paper is a great way to plan cuts. An example of a cut plan for a box pleate balloon shade is shown below.

A weight bar is needed for functional balloon shades. Cover the bar in a sleeve of fabric and hand sew at each bottom ring. For stationary shades you might not need a weight bar. Hang the shade first to see how it looks and they decide if a weight bar is needed.

The balloon shade below has a gathered heading with loop strip machine sewn on top of the gathering tape. It is on the motorized Forest Hardware RBS headrail system. The hook and loop attachment makes it easy to install and to plug-in and recharge the battery. Susan installed the battery on top of the track using round, swivel brackets.

If you have a window with a lot of wall space above, balloon shades installed high above will keep more of the window exposed - this is a great solution when paired with draperies.

You can find instructions for how to make a gathered, waterfall balloon shade in Susan's book, Singer(R) Sewing Custom Curtains, Shades and Top Treatments. This is a great resource if you want to get started with balloons shades or to refresh your memory of a style that is making a come-back.