PIANO AND MANTEL DRAPERIES
The fabric decoration of pianos presents difficulties peculiar to itself, and the effort to combine beauty with common-sense utility has resulted in many pretty treatments, a few of which we illustrate. One of the first problems in the treatment of an upright piano is to securely and neatly attach the drapery to the instrument without in anywise interfering with its use or marring its finish.
For most treatments a board the shape of the top of the instrument, covered with a neutral-tinted fabric and lined beneath with felt or canton flannel, will be found to be an easy and practical method of protecting the top of the instrument, at the same time affording a solid place for the attachment of the drapery.
When covering the under side be careful not to leave any tack heads projecting; either sink them into the fabric below the surface, or at the four corners, and centre tack a small wad of felt about an inch in diameter, and drive the tack in so that the felt is forced upward around the head of the tack.
If the board should be inclined to teeter or rock, thicken the wads at the loose corners until it lies perfectly flat and solid.
The drapery can be attached to the board in a number of different ways. For light festoon draperies in which the top of the festoon falls below the edge of the board a good method is to attach a small metal rod to the edge of the board, turning the corners nicely with elbows, or bending it sharply at right angles, and loop the drapery over this. For flat or straight top festoons attach directly to the board and cover the edge with a ruffle or large cord.
Figure23illustrates a valance or lambrequin treatment made with a plain scalloped centre and narrow festoons on the sides and ends, with pipes at the intersections of the scallops. The festoons are fastened along the edge of the board and covered by a large cord. The plain scallop in centre does not interfere with the use of the music rest and is sufficiently decorated with an appliqué pattern.
The pipes may either be made separately, as explained in chapter on flat valances, or cut together with festoons, as in chapter on pleated valances or lambrequins. Where appliqués are used, whether of leather, tinsel or lace, the best effect is obtained by using a self-color fabric without pattern or design. Sew the appliqués down flat either by hand or machine before the lining is put in.
Figure24is a flat appliqué valance on which the appliqué is allowed to project beyond the edge of the scallops, making an irregular lace edge effect. This makes a very neat and simple arrangement, and is cut as Figure24A, to allow an overhang on the face and two ends of the instrument.
The overhang X at the end is made the width of the top, so that the front overhang falls close to its front edge and meets the appliqué to conceal the opening at the corner.
This style usually requires two breadths of fifty-inch goods, and is made with an overhang of six or nine inches in front and eighteen to twenty-four inches at each end. After the edging is sewn on it is lined (sometimes interlined) and laid on the piano, where its weight is usually sufficient to keep it in place.
Figure25is a festoon drapery looped over the metal rod on the edge of the board or attached to the edge of piano top, as illustrated by small cords and tassels, which are attached to the back of the piano. (See dotted lines Figure25A.) They may be either straight loops, as left side of illustration, or crossed, as right side of illustration. This style is cut and made up with due consideration of the size and requirements of the space, as explained in chapter on French festoon drapery.
A pretty scheme is sometimes made in soft fabrics by using a drapery that is a composite of the last two, a flat top cover with a pleated festoon effect on the front and end, as outlined by scalloped broken lines on Figure26. It is made as explained for Figure21in chapter on pleated valances or lambrequins.
After the festoons are drawn out full size and marked for cutting, the pipe for the corner may be added and cut out with the festoon. (See explanation for Figure19Ain chapter on pleated valances.)
The tail in Figure26is planned the reverse way to the method mentioned in a former chapter, but a study of this illustration will show that the principle is the same.
The tail and pipe may be cut separate from the rest or cut attached by allowing for the little connecting pieces X and X, which fold beneath and do not show. In cutting the tail for this design there is nothing to be gained by cutting it attached to the festoon, but the method is given here to explain the principle.
The plain tied scarf, Figure27, is usually a piece of soft unlined fabric twenty-seven inches wide by about two and two-thirds yards long, and is caught up as illustrated by tying a small shirring cord which is run through the fabric and divides the front overhang into three festoons.
In large rooms there is sometimes an advantage in turning the keyboard to the wall and decoratingthe back of the instrument, which is then the most prominent part.
The nature of this treatment is to disguise the piano and give it the effect and usefulness of another piece of furniture.
Figure28illustrates a popular treatment, the back covered with a curtain of soft fabric shirred on a rod, and attached to the back of the instrument so that the heading or shirring projects slightly above the top. In making the curtain allow about as much again for fullness (or twice the length of the space to be covered), letting the bottom edge of the curtain hang free or shirr it on a rod similar to the top. To this is added an upholstered seat or bench and a few pillows.
If desired a festoon drapery can be added at the top of the curtain with good effect.
A decorative panel may be used instead of a curtain, as illustrated in Figure29, either with or without a seat, and the drapery made to conform to the style of the panel.
The drapery may be made as a part of the panel, as Figure29A, or attached separately after the panel is in place.
A square or grand piano is prettily treated with a flat cover, the size and shape of the top trimmed with an overhanging fringe or appliquéd edge of a depth to suit the individual taste.
The cover may be made of any medium-weight material of self or composite colorings, but preference should be given to a fabric not easily marked by the ornaments or bric-à-brac.
In many cases the designs suitable for an upright piano can be used with good effect on a mantel, Figures23,24,25and27of our illustrations possessing this feature to a certain degree.
The decoration of a mantel, however, does not present the same difficulties as the decoration of a piano, because there are fewer restrictions to bear in mind, and there is perhaps more danger of overdoing mantel decoration on this account.
From the appearance of some of the old-fashioned fireplaces still in existence we would infer that in those days utility and capacity were the first, last and only considerations.
The open grate, though popular for a long time after its introduction into this country, gradually became less and less frequently used, and as its usefulness decreased its artistic insufficiencies became more and more apparent, draperies being used to relieve and ornament it where it was thought unwise to remove it altogether. Succeeding the period of disguised homeliness we have a period of more elaborate designs, and with the return of the overmantel architectural art has lavished upon this piece of furniture carvings and mouldings until it is usually a thing of beauty, and the decorator has sometimes to advise against what would be a superfluity of decoration in the employment of fabric.
A little judicious advice along the line of superabundant decoration is sometimes profitably and kindly received, but the man who presumes to so advise must do so only upon invitation and with the utmost tact. In a great many cases, however, the mantel drapery is still an artistic necessity, and we give herewith a few styles and methods of modern treatments. Figure30is a flat-covered buckram pelmet, having a scalloped bottom, and a series of apertures through which a light-weight drapery is arranged in regular festoons.
This style is frequently employed to obtain depth without the appearance of weight. The top edge of the pelmet may be finished with a cord, fringe, moulding, antique nails or any simple form of trimming. For method of making this class of drapery see chapter on flat valances and lambrequins. It is sometimes necessary to provide an open grate with draught curtains, as Figure31.
These are hung on a small rod close up to the top of the opening, using rings large enough to allow them to traverse easily, and are provided with a tassel loop at each side to retain curtains, as dotted lines, Figure31, when the grate contains fire.
It is necessary, unless the goods are very heavy, to weight the bottoms of the curtains to prevent the draught from drawing them inward. This is accomplished by a small roll of shot, about the thickness of a lead pencil, cased in cotton and inserted between the lining and the goods along the bottom of the curtain. Do not fill the roll so tightly that it will not retain its flexibility.
This will be found a good method to employ where a draught of any kind interferes with the proper appearance of a light-weight curtain, and the roll can be kept almost invisible in the lightest materials by covering it with a piece of material the same shade as the curtains.
Frequently the appearance of a room may be enhanced by giving the mantel fitment some elevation, as, for instance, Figure32, by reason of its plainness, would in a large room present a squatty appearance, were it not for the elevation given it by the panel and drapery. Instead of the panel, a mirror may be used, and the drapery added to relieve the bare top line. The drapery may be attached to a pole, cords or ornaments, as your design may require, taking care only to give it sufficient extension to clear the panel nicely and not lie flat against the face of it.
This style, with Figure32A, gives another method of combining a festoon and a tail, the join being made after both are pleated up and the seam concealed by a cord which appears to loop it back.
Measure and cut festoon A, Figure32A, as per rule for irregular festoons in the chapter pertaining tothat subject, which will give you the pattern Figure32B. Pleat this up on your board to the dimensions and shape of your plan and make a paper pattern of an ordinary single tail the size you require. Pleat this up and trim the corner C, Figure32D, to fit the angle covered by the cord in Figure32A. Cut, line, and pleat up the tail in the usual way, and join it to the pleated festoon as neatly as possible.
The decorator with an eye for ensemble will sometimes be able to suggest the breaking up of a too flat boudoir or dressing-room side-wall with a mantel shelf or hanging book-shelf, which can be tastefully decorated in keeping with the surroundings. The treatment of high upright steam rediators is analogous to this line of furnishing and demands in some instances much the same mode of procedure. A board or shelf is made to fit the top of the radiator and so constructed as to fit squarely and securely with a boxing or keeper beneath, to prevent sliding or slipping. This is covered with a fabric to harmonize with the other furnishings and trimmed with a deep fringe, a Japanese reed and bead curtain, a moulding, or a very shallow valance.
The depth of any, governed by the style of the radiator and the taste of the decorator, best results are obtained by using a board that has saw cuts about an inch apart, and running within a few inches of from end to end, lengthwise. Very low upright radiators can be effectively treated by making the top into an upholstered seat and trimming the front and ends with a deep close fringe from seat to floor, which will conceal the radiator and permit the escape of all the heat.
A study of the accompanying illustrations will suggest the application of each to the requirements of a piano, mantel or shelf, and from these a great many pretty combinations may be evolved.
In the styles presented we have tried to avoid anything of a cumbrous or fussy nature, on the ground that dignity and simplicity are more preferable in the smaller furnishings.
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