SK Designs is celebrating 22 years in business! 

 

I know it has been a verrrry long time since I posted, but now is the perfect time to provide some updates and new photos! 

 

We are very excited to be celebrating 22 years of serving the greater Houston area with beautiful custom window treatments and bedding, as well as blinds, shutters and shades!

 

Coincidentally, a colleague of mine interviewed me for her weekly podcasts.  Ceil DiGuglielmo owns a customer drapery business in Warrington, Pennsylvania, and she began interviewing industry professionals about a year ago.  I met Ceil several years ago when I presented a seminar to her area's WCAA (Window Coverings Association of America) design & workroom group. 
 

You can learn how SK Designs began and how things have changed for us in the past 22 years here:  http://tinyurl.com/skdpodcast

Last year I showed a couple of photos of a sorority house project I had worked on in 2015, but could not show the completed photos because I planned to enter the project in an industry contest.

I can show the photos now, because the contest has been completed, and the project won First Place in Decorative Hardware and Trimmings at the IWCE (International Window Coverings Expo) which was held earlier this year in Charlotte, NC.

I was unable to attend the conference and awards ceremony, but some wonderful colleagues took photos of the screen at the ceremony so I could see what had happened!


It was exciting news; this project was near and dear to my heart and included some beautiful hand-sewn details, such as Swarovski pearl details, wave tucks, and a laser cut silk replica of the sorority's crest.  The crest was comprised of many small fabric pieces which were carefully applied by hand to the roman shade in the main living room of the Gamma Phi Beta house in San Marcos, Texas (Texas State University.

Here is the original rendering I proposed for the project:

 The embellished detailing still makes me swoon! 

The leading edges of the drapery panels featured the wave tucks with the pearl detailing.  This detail was also included on the bottom hem of the roman shade.










The crest shows all of the tiny pieces which were laser cut by It's Oksana in Chicago, Illinois.  The carnations were made of numerous delicate pieces of pink silk, the stems and leaves also comprised of several pieces, and the lantern's embossed look was also made of several dark brown silk pieces, all hand applied very carefully (see photo at right). (Photos by Brandy Stoesz Photography)

Here is the full project photo:

 

 We have been busy with many other projects since our last posting; here are a few of my favorites!

 

The memory pillows above were made from a dear father's shirts for his daughters.



Beautiful silk drapery panels in this dining room are perfect and the stationary roman shades above the side windows help unify the height of the three windows even though the side windows are lower on the wall than the front arched window.



Embroidered drapery panels are carefully planned to allow them to be pleated to pattern; the symmetry is so pretty in this new home's study. (photo by Brandy Stoesz Photography)



This stunning family room's architectural details and beams are softened with stationary drapery panels on a custom curved rod which follows the arch of the windows. (Photo by Brandy Stoesz Photography)

 

At right, these embroidered drapery panels are pleated
to pattern and break on the floor for softness. (Photo by Brandy Stoesz Photography)

I hope you've enjoyed catching up on some of our latest projects and news and that you like the new lighter blog background.

I look forward to showcasing some of our favorite projects from the last 22 years in upcoming blog posts.

Susan Kostelecky




2015 = the 20th Anniversary of SK Designs!

It is hard to believe that SK Designs started 20 years ago!  We are celebrating with a new website - visit the new site at www.skdesignscustom.com .  Hope you like it!

Lots of things have changed since I started working in our living and dining rooms in 1995, sewing on a single home machine.  As our business grew, we began to overtake our home, and needed more space and more heavy duty equipment.

Eventually, we built out part of our guest house, transforming it into the SK Designs studio. Finally, the machines were out of the house, we had room for more machines, a padded pinnable large worktable, a suspended commercial iron, and room for lots of pegboard walls in order to display completed window treatment projects as well as fabric sample books.

Want to take a look at an efficient professional drapery fabricator's studio?  

Below is the entryway to SK Designs.  Client thank you notes are posted on the striped bulletin board straight ahead, and vendor files and client files are in the cabinets on the right.

Bins with client samples, trims, patterns, etc. are also located in the entryway, along with display photos of some past projects.

As with any business, it is important to have the correct tools for the job!  By investing in commercial sewing machines, a more efficient work space, seminars and trade shows, I could complete projects more professionally and more easily.  Here are a couple of our commercial machines:

It makes a world of difference having all of the things needed to design, draft, fabricate and display custom window treatments and bedding.  The walls of pegboard allows me to display fabric sample books as well as completed treatments ready for delivery.

As you can see above, I can also use the pegboard walls to drape chain weight when drafting overlapping swags.  This helps me check if the proportions and overlaps are the size that I want them to be.  You can also see the suspended Dofix iron floating above the table.  I love my Dofix iron!  It allows me easy access to the iron, while keeping the worktable clear for cutting, drafting and laying out fabrics for treatments in progress.  There is no dangling electrical cord getting in the way that has to be moved out of the way frequently.

Below is a photo of the tool storage and prep area.  Pins, screws, fabric staplers, chalk marking tools, magnetic pin bowls, zippers and zipper pulls, roman shade cord orbs....lots and lots of little pieces are stored in this area.

Of course, there has to be room for inspiration!  Here are just a few of the window treatment and design books that I have collected over the years.

I hope you have enjoyed the mini tour of our studio!

Thank you for your interest, support and business throughout our 20 years!

Susan Kostelecky