Cloth Studio

Drilling into concrete is no joke...but what is a joke is how buildings are made today. I don't know if there is a code for how many and how deep utility pipes and cables can be buried into a concrete ceiling but there definitely should be. Todays install had us scanning the concrete to make sure we didn't hit anything....and we didnt...except concrete. These steps are absolutely necessary if you don't want to pay 10s of thousands in repairs or insurance because someone planned a ceiling to have an electrical or water conduit in it 1" from the ceiling grade. So you need 3k in tools in insurance. I don't know about the rest of you concrete drilling types but we always use bits and anchors. We would also use a hilti drill except i much prefer the festool system. I find the festool drill is surgical in its ability to drill accurately in concrete. We use a 3/16" drill bit and anchors to hard mount the track to the ceiling...bracket less. Do you have any idea how precise you have to be to be able to do that?

Installing curtains is no small feat and mad respect to all who do it.... and nooooo if you are a blinds installer you are not included...you guys use 4 different screws on 3 different brackets...wreck stuff...can't measure properly and charge way too much for your mediocre skills. Your vans are filthy and your ladders are amateur hour at the apollo... Now if you can install curtains AND blinds you are obviously a boss...but dont you blinds guys try to come in on this post for some glory...go buy a level and a laser distance measurer and stop wasting everyone's time complaining about concrete installs. You know the type....
Ok thats called industry humor... the blind guys can't see so they can't really be blamed.
Here is an amazing install with our newest fabric for our favorite people at .vancouver . Meuse color walnut is a gorgeous dark chocolate mocha...so yummy. It doesn't hurt of course that this home is filled with thoughtful furniture and art making the curtains look even more amazing.

I don't know why they call it handkerchief weight...nobody even uses hankies. I like to call it the perfect bedding weight. Lys is perfect for light unlined curtains, bedding and table wear. Available in a range of colors view them online and just try to imagine the myriad of possibilities

Les Peculiars...a collection of oddities...a particularly high quality group of textiles that are both unique and exceptional.
Furrow
Barnacle
Equine
In
That
Order
Perfect for pillows and upholstery

Introducing a couple things....
Our new website is up...link in the bio. Our newest website, while trade only, let's you explore the amazing world of linen from your own linen covered sofa. If you are a curtainmaker an upholsterer a designer an architect or a specifier head on over and set up an account. You can view and buy our textiles online ...
To celebrate we are unleashing our newest linen collection...meuse....unraveling some of the most incredibly simple but effective colors we've ever seen.

In case you were wondering..... the worlds greatest linen website is almost up. You'll be able to see all my amazing fabrics and revel in the liminal glory that is linen. When I say that linen is the love of my life I mean it.
Pictured here in all is luminescent glory is our very own beautiful sheer...names appropriately for how beautiful it is. Peoplw fuss over color and pattern...you should really fuss over how a fabric makes you feel.

Todays very challenging install was a banger....
A 20' multi angled headboard... meaning it had two different slopes...a lipped over hang and an acute angle intersecting millwork on the right side. How on earth do you actually build and install a 20' headboard with that much complication?
You build it in place and slipcover the whole thing in linen, including the bedframe. I spent 1 year thinking about this headboard and it took me about a week to build it and with the help from my buddies at and we made this amazing bedroom designed by Battersby Howat a little softer.
It never ceases to amaze me how much work goes into something like this... you have to have a client with a vision...a designer who can interpret that dream an architect to design the house and teams of people to make it happen. And everyone has to coordinate on many fronts to see the vision through.
My process is pretty simple... I make the soft stuff...but it is all woodworlimg...foam technique and technology and then cutting and sewing.... you have to be very skilled to make it all look like its easy and intentional.

Clothstudio turned 9 last month. 9. It has been 9 years since we changed our business model. What precipitated the change was both internal and external. Our business was nearly broke... we had just gone through a change to the ownership structure and our path ahead was undetermined. All the concerns and responsibilities that had me struggling in years prior were still there and now I was also afraid of how things were going to play out. The rebrand was a huge commitment. And a welcome refresh from a previous branding strategy that was disastrous. I hired a marketing guru...she was useless. Spent thousands of dollars comsulting...dollars I barely had ... until one day I broke. I couldn't do this nonsense anymore and within 15 mins clothstudio and the concept was born. Years and months of working with or and brand strategists and graphic designers didn't bring the success we had in the next 6 months of our new company.
Sometimes you don't need strategists and marketing gurus and graphic designers... you just need a little desperation hunger and your inner voice to get really loud.

This is amazing.

Soon you'll be able to buy remnants roll ends and dead stock online. Great for cushions quilts crafts and literally anything you can think of. Imagine....pieces of linen... at a great price!

MOOD

linen is a mood...this is dark...the light defines.

WRINKLY LINEN
people complain about the wrinkles in linen.
Use a steamer... but its not going to work on your face...

Sleepless nights.

Continuing on with our "great curtains belonging to total as****es" series we have these amazing velvet walls that we made for a home in West Vancouver. The owner was a decorator and was nice enough to deal with till they werent....so what happened? Well our fledgling company was gratefully selected to make some huge curtain walls in velvet for this great space...which did well. But then the house required some renovation and given the value of these curtains we offered to store them in our shop till the reno was done. After a much longer time than was agreed it was time to return the curtain...well after new carpet and ceiling were replaced necessitating a major alteration on the curtain ,the owners...we shall call them voldemort and cruella, insisted their curtains be delivered immediately. Unfortunately for Joe biden and Kamala we had run into a problem and couldn't deliver them as hastily as they wanted...this after a year of delays on their part. Well after explaining they would be a week late I was rudely yelled at on the phone and told my staff were rude and inconsiderate. Consider that I offered to store the curtains and care for them for free! Well I wasn't having it...and told the two minions their curtains would be in garbage bags behind our shop the next day, 15k in curtains!!
Well before you know it these clowns sent a driver to pick them up .... I threw the curtains in a bag and told him to get lost. Well the two stooges went on to slander me and tried to sully my good name...or at least tried to. Who cares? WE MAKE CURTAINS FFS. Keep your drama to yourself and try to understand the bigger picture...but there's no saving stupid. Sigh

Ghent could just be my most favorite fabric collection. The colors are wonderful and the fabric sews up beautifully.

Looped shades are truly a work of art....

These were some of the most beautiful curtains in one of the worst projects we ever worked on.
Circa 2016.

I don't even remember where this was...sometime back in 2016 probably. We made these beautiful shoji screens...from linen of course... to diffuse the view beyond and adding the steel eyelets gives the eyes a place to focus, tricking them into staying in the room...and what a great backdrop to the lights...

This image wasn't created by ai. Wasn't generated through the use of cgi. Its what curtains should look like in a beautiful space.

What an incredibly busy week. i'm feeling like I'm really behind always playing catch up. Today was interesting... very. My first appointment was to measure for some curtains in a home that I had pre-installed the hardware ahead of drywall...so the tracking would be flush in the ceiling. Almost nobody gets this right. You have a designer sitting in their offices dreaming up details..a contractor trying to figure it out...me supplying and pre installing the hardware and the drywaller coming in and fu***ng it all up. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to have to deal with this over and over and over. What is the point of explaining the process and the intricacies if nobody feels like they should follow them? My second visit was not much less irritating. I visited a home where some real amateur curtainmakers tried to fit two ripplefolds in a 7 inch pocket. Again the designer specified it and it was built out and the curtain maker said they could make it work. I said it could never...but people want to hear the answer they like... not the actual reality of physics. So now the curtains look ridiculous and don't even function that well... poor design...poor workmanship...meh fabrics and its supposed to work? Really? Why are so many people mentally challenged these days. People wake the f**k up...you literally have the worlds greatest curtain maker of all time in your back pocket...just do what he says and it'll all be fine...but nooooo, wed rather use pinterest! Luckily we ended our day on a high note. FINALLY after many months were able to install our first fully organic linen curtains. Organic linen with organic cotton lining. This designer and builder listened to our reccomendations and turned out a beautifully designed detail and ex*****on...and guess what? The curtains fit...they look great and I'm not pi**ed off about it. Seriously folks we live in the modern age...we have lasers, crazy tools, every opportunity to make things work amazingly...yet somehow almost every project is a clusterf**k....how?

Sifting through decades of photos...
These are from 2004

Curtain engineering is a real thing people. In fact while loosely thought of as an art or craft curtainmaking is far more technical than you might imagine. One must successfully fuse the artistry inherent to needlecraft and the mechanical technical aspects of engineering taking into account material variance, humidity and many other factors. Indeed this is the main reason we primarily work with one single textile....the noble flax plant, to gain understanding and mastery.
Making angled top curtains requires a lot of very precise math, careful planning, marking and then near perfect ex*****on. To measure the windows you need all kinds of fancy tools...multiple lasers, ladders, angle finders and a tape measure. I use sketchup to plot out the curtains, the pleats and spaces, angles and tolerances as well as incorporating ease, hems etc.
At that point I hand over the reigns to whose precise Japanese engineering skills help translate the drawing to a textile sculpture. After much measuring, swearing, cutting...existential angst...the curtains start taking shape. A very time consuming process and one which requires a great quantity of chocolate.
The scary thing about angled top curtains is that you'll never know how they turn out until you hang them....

Todays install...well first install ... was a real treat to see. I started building my ridiculous furniture in 2008. I designed a system of furniture for my kids that would be very hard wearing but soft everywhere. Pretty soon we started making these for our customers and several people ordered our massive square...Basically a 50 sq ft sofa which weighs something close to 500 lbs. Well here we are 15 years later and we had the great fortune to reupholster one of our original sets. Despite having been used for 15 years and used hard....the pieces were in fantastic condition...truly a treat to see how well they have stood up...but thats quality I guess.
My son worked with me on these upholstering them almost completely himself. What a proud moment for me to see him working on pieces I had made when he was only 5 years old designed for him not to bash his face on as a baby. Click through the images and you will see the death spiral staircase we had to lift them up...one of the most challenging things we've had to do...thankfully we had the help of Mr. Muscles himself... who promptly took a nap as soon as we lifted them into place.
Click through further and you'll see the pieces as they looked originally done in a heavy blue wool. So good. Look a little harder and you'll see a young standing around even back the line watching me do most of the work. Working on these was a real joy...ps did you catch those sick pillows? Little things friends...little things.

Elephanthide linen is by far my favorite linen in our collection. It is profound and simplistic, rugged and tactile. The linen starts as a coarse heavy woven 24 oz linen and is stonewashed to produce laundered scars throughout the fabric. When people talk about bold and unique this fabric fits the bill in spades. While seeming mostly innocuous and subtle, linen can also challenge us to step out of our comfort zone to really experience true comfort. I know that sounds like orwellian doublespeak but if you've ever thought about introducing linen into your life but hesitated because you thought it wrinkles or is hard to care for or your friends will judge you but you went ahead anyway to experience truth and are now living your best life you know exactly what I'm talking about. I have also been enjoying my new camera and shooting images for my new website which I should be able to share with you soon. For now you will have to live with instagram...

My latest project has been populating my new website. I doubt it will be ready till spring but the photography is lit...
From above below and inside...

My last non political rant post of the year brings us back to simplicity...
Curtains are simple. Life is complicated. Don't overcomplicate your life and buy some simple curtains.

New throw. Wool linen boucle.
Heavily washed and textured.
Yes expensive...very.

Another near perfect install with .... the addition of sheers to this amazing new home really softened the space while helping with sun control and acoustics...

Since our government's collective IQ dropped precipitously over the pandemic and they decreed by royal order that all Roman shades are worse for your health than vaccines thereby deeming them contraband we have had to make changes...
We are making automated Roman's and they work great.
Curious... why aren't vaccines for kids deemed too dangerous...surely more kids have died from vaccination than roman shades. You think?
This is what happens when morons run a country for noones benefit.

Take a good look at the unintended consequence of consideration in dedign....
A beautifully glowing flowing sheer traversing through rooms...
Imagine how amazing this looks from the outside.

Today's install was 3 automated shades and 3 sets of amazing sheer walls. We had the immense pleasure of working in this home when it was built, designed by .balcaen.kwan and built by back during the pandemic. Well we were back today making the house even homier. Our work is so good it really is. We take complicated situations and turn them into places of beauty and simplicity.