Matching Welt on a Curve

The project was an upholstered cornice, with a 3/8" welt along the top and bottom edges. The instructions were "Match the welt as best as you can". Normally cornices that have shaped bottoms with striped fabric have the welt made in a contrasting welt, or have the fabric cut on the biased. In this case we decide to experiment to see what could be done. The result was that the welt matches the bottom of the cornice, even around the curves. Read about how we did it.

Matching Welt on an Arc (curve)

The project was an upholstered cornice, with a 3/8" welt along the top and bottom edges. The instructions were "Match the welt as best as you can". Normally cornices that have shaped bottoms with striped fabric have the welt made in a contrasting welt, or have the fabric cut on the biased. In this case we decide to experiment to see what could be done. The result was that the welt matches the bottom of the cornice, even around the curves. Read about how we did it.

1. Cut the welt strip very wide: For normal 3/8" welt, I usually cut the fabric strips 2 1/4" wide. However, for this this bottom welt I'd cut the welt about 3 or more times the height of the arc. The two arcs (one on each end of the cornice) are about 3" high, so I'd probably cut the welt strips at least 9 to 12 inches wide. However, with that said, after I cut the cornice face along one side, I just used the whole rest of the fabric width, as you will be able to see in the pictures.

2. The welt is not sewed at all-it is put on by hand. The fabric is wrapped around the welt and stapled on the bottom as the welt is put on.

3. Twist the fabric around the turns. As you are stapling the welt around the turns, just keep twisting the so that it matches the stripes on the face. I had to untwist the opposite way that I thought I'd have to twist it. You will also have to carefully cut the fabric underneath and on top (see bottom section of picture below) to be able to twist the fabric in place. It sounds more complicated that it is, but you do have to work it in place.

Welting Strip on cornice bottom:

The two crooked lines in the center of the bottom welt fabric (above) show where the welt will be in the fabric (after it is attached.) You will notice that the welt in the fabric follows an opposite mirror of what you would think. The welt follows about the same shape as the scallops on the cornice, but in reverse. Also, the dotted lines represent (kind of ) where you have to cut the fabric.

I don't have time to write out all the instructions right now, but with knowing the above, you can probably figure out the rest by watching the slide show.

Slide Show
To see the slide show, click on the picture or the link below the picture. The slide show shows the whole process, not just the welt. Another note, I took pictures of match the welt on both sides of the cornice bottom, which is kind of redundtant, but, will show the process twice.:

Stripe Cornice Slide Show