DWC Home | Magazine | Back Issues | March 2004 | Big Picture

BIG PICTURE

Solving Swags
Guidelines for helping you create swags for windows while keeping the whole room in balance.

by Cheryl Strickland

I’m often asked how to determine the number of overlapping swags and of what size to use on a window. It’s especially tricky when there is more than one window in a room, and they each are different widths. For example, one of our students was working in a room with three windows—one was 93 1/2 inches wide, another was 69 1/2 inches wide and the last was 45 1/2 inches wide.

An important guideline to use that assures the swag treatments are as aesthetically pleasing as possible is to keep each individual swag as close to the same width as the other swags in the room. This is far more important than trying to use the same number of swags from window to window. Knowing that most swags are between 30 and 50 inches wide, here’s what I’d typically do.

DIVIDE AND CONQUER
To make the calculation easier, I round off the measurement fractions in the window widths. Slight adjustments can be made in the width of the swags later to compensate for this adjustment. Let’s start with the window that’s 70 inches wide.

It is easy to see that two 35-inch swags would butt end-to-end to cover the width. Another 35-inch swag would be needed to cover up where the other two butt together; therefore, we’d use three 35-inch swags as shown in Illustration 1. The single swag would be placed on top of the other two to provide a complete swag as a focal point in the center of the treatment. If it were placed behind the other swags, only a small portion of it would show. This is OK if it is the desired style, but it is not very common.

The 45-inch window could be covered with one 45-inch swag, but that would be a lot different in finished width than the three 35-inch swags on the first window. Three swags used on a 45-inch window would be another solution, but that means the swags would be 22 1/2 inches wide. That is quite a bit out of our desired range of 30 to 50 inches in width. A better choice probably would be to use two swags cascading in one direction (Illustration 2).

The best way to determine the size of swags that cascade in one direction is to think of them in terms of half swags covering the full width of the window. Typically, only half of each swag would extend out from underneath the previous swag. The one swag at the beginning of the cascade would be completely seen, so be sure to count it as two half swags.

In our case, we’d have a total of three half swags covering the width of the 45-inch window. To determine the exact width of the swags, divide the window width by three. You get 15 inches. Remember, this is the size of a half swag, so double it to get 30 inches. This is very close to the 35-inch swags used to cover the first window.

Now, let’s tackle the 93-inch window. Three 31-inch swags would butt end-to-end and be very close in size to the other swags. Two more swags of the same size would be needed to cover where the other three meet (Illustration 3). Again, we’d use the odd number of swags as the top layer in order to place a full swag as the center focal point. Therefore, the two swags would be mounted first and the other three on top of those.

OTHER SOLUTIONS
The 93-inch window also could be covered in two 46 1/2-inch swags butted together with a third covering where the first two meet (Illustration 4). These swags would be much larger than the other swags in the room if we chose to use the 30- and 35-inch swags on the other windows. But remember, we could have decided to use only one swag on the 45-inch window. Now, these last two windows would have swags that were very close to the same size (46 1/2 and 45 inches). So, let’s go back to the 70-inch window and see if there’s another solution that would put us just as close.

How close would the swags be in size if we used two swags cascading in one direction on the 70-inch window instead of three overlapping swags? Two cascading swags would mean three half swags, so we divide the window width by three and get approximately 23 inches. This is the measure for a half swag, so the complete swag would be a total of 46 inches. Bingo! Almost exactly the same size as the others.

So in the end, we could go with swags approximately 30-inches in width on all three windows or swags approximately 45-inches in width on all three windows. The choice is up to you and your customer.

HOW TO DECIDE
As you can see from this exercise, there are almost always multiple choices for any given window. How do you choose which option would be the best? There are several criteria you can use to help you decide. Sometimes only one of these will apply, making the decision simple. Other times several will apply making the decision more difficult.

In that situation, you will have to do the best you can, trying to determine which is the most important consideration and which is your customer’s preference. Let’s take a look at the various elements I use to help me make a decision. Let’s use a 90-inch window as an example.

• Style of Treatment. Do you or your customer want typical overlapping swags, overlapping swags that cascade all in one direction or butted swags (Illustration 5)? The desired style will affect how many swags would be used.

• Design Theme. Often there are multiple options, even when using the same style of swag. For example, five 30-inch overlapping swags or three 45-inch overlapping swags could be used on a 90-inch wide window. Using design as the criteria to decide, you may want to follow this guideline: Usually, the more swags on a window, the more formal and plush the treatment. Not always, of course. It also would depend on the type of fabric and trimmings and the style of the swag.

• Type of Window. What if your 90-inch window were made up of three 30-inch windows? If using overlapping swags, I would use five 30-inch swags rather than three 45-inch swags because it would place a 30-inch swag at the center of each window (Illustration 6).

If, however, I wanted to use butted swags, I would use only three 30-inch swags. Again, that would allow for a swag to be centered over each window.

• Other Windows in the Room. But what if you had another window in the same room that was 44 inches wide with one 44-inch swag on it? Then I would seriously consider using three overlapping 45-inch swags. Remember, we like to keep all of the swags in a room as similar in size as possible. Using 30-inch swags would be too different in look from the 44-inch swag. But using three 45-inch swags would not allow for a swag to be centered over each 30-inch window. In this case, you would have to decide which criterion is more crucial.

• Usually, Use an Odd Number. Using odd numbers is key to pleasant interior design, no matter what we are working with. Three pillows on the bed, not two, for example. This guideline also applies to swags. If an even number works out better following some of the previous guidelines, then it is OK to use an even number.

Typically, overlapping swags will nearly always work out to an odd number, but calculations for the number of swags that will cascade in one direction can result in an even number.

• Cost. Most swags require 1 1/2 yards of fabric each, and most workrooms charge per swag for labor. Therefore, five 30-inch swags would require more fabric and higher labor charges than three 45-inch swags. If five overlapping swags are desired for the look but won’t fit into the budget, a very similar but much less expensive look could be created with three overlapping swags.

• Fabric Type. If a heavy or stiff fabric has been chosen for swags (a poor choice, by the way), the fabric will hang best if used in as large a size swag as possible. So, I would choose to use three 45-inch swags rather then five 30-inch swags. Besides, if I’m working with a fabric that is hard to work with, I’d much rather have to make only three swags than five!

• Design in the Print. If the chosen fabric is a print and has a large design, the design would show better in a large swag than in a small swag. The design could be completely hidden in a small swag, showing only the colors.

• Width of Fabric. An important quality guideline for swags recommends not using seams because they show and detract from the beauty of the treatment. The width of the fabric will determine how wide a swag can be made without using a seam. Thus, five smaller swags may have to be used rather than three larger ones.

WHEW!

That’s quite a list, isn’t it? How do you handle all of these elements at the same time just to make a decision on how many swags to make? My advice is first to determine which elements apply. Next, decide which are most crucial. Discuss the mater with your customer and do your best!