With the recent popularity of this post from 2020, especially from your European interior trend clients and discovering several new amazing wools for draperies, we thought we would revamp this window treatments 101 article to bring it up to date and share our new fabric finds.

Below are some of our favorite wool blend fabrics from our Southern California supplier. The first two are semisheers 50/50 wool rayon blends in off-white and black/navy. These are 60” wide and $62.50 usd per yard. The beauty of these wool and rayon blends is our ability to custom dye them with two colors in LA. The dyed wool woven of the front will let the rayon dyed a different color elegantly peek through. (As was many of our sheer wool projects, we recommend lining them with a sheer batiste lining)
The second two are 50/50 wool poly blends in Camel and Indigo. It is also available in Chocolate and Black in different weights from 9oz to 20oz depending on the color. They are all 60” wide and cost $50 - 100 usd per yard.

The last few wool fabrics we would like to highlight are from one of favorite new textile producers in Los Angeles, Natasha Baradaran. Forrest fell in love with the fabric line during a meeting in Guadalajara with Brian Hackfeld, our Allan Knight rep, an amazing showroom in Dallas, TX. We would easily recommend all colorways of pattern Lana, a Linen, Mohair, Polyamide blend that is 110” wide and also love Phoebe, a crocheted wool, in color Burnished

Wool and woolen curtains can come in nearly as many varieties as any other type of drapery and can be fabricated into Roman shades as well. We cam made wool curtains from gauzy woolen sheers from Italy as well as thick felts and mohairs that could almost stand on their own without drapery hardware. Mohairs are generally reserved for upholstery, but we have sewn some amazing custom mohair draperies for Geremia Design (shown in the article below).

We would like to remind our drapery and interior designer clients that there are a few disadvantages of using wool for draperies and other home applications as with most natural fibers. Wool can be damaged by the sun and moisture depending on its construction. I have never suggested wool for our Puerto Vallarta and Punta Mita projects because of the unknown factor combined with the humid climate. Moths and other insects can eat holes in wool. Wool can be damaged by pets and kids. I have seen this first hand in Orinda, CA window treatment project, and it wasn’t a pretty sight.

Please choose your interior designer and materials carefully to match you family and lifestyle. A few years ago, we worked with a design group in the SF Bay Area that kept specifying $200 per yard wool gauge for every project. It was always ruined quickly by pets and children. This is also the time in our companies history when we quit fabricating functional inverse pleated draperies because they don’t function well.

[From our Archives 17 NOV 2020: Current Obsession - Wool Drapes]

For us, few things represent sustainable luxuries like wool drapes and window treatments. Although wool, particularly 100% wool fabrications are much more susceptible to sun damage—not really a desirable factor when you’re talking about window treatments—using wool has numerous other positive qualities to outweigh the negative, least of which is that wool can be classic, timeless and make a bold statement in your space.

Photos above are our first pair of mohair wool drapes we have ever fabricated for Geremia Design. We love how they turned out. Wool window treatments should always be lined to protect them from the sun. We also had to hand hem the bottom and sides for these drapery panels because of the thickness of the mohair material. This project was featured in Dwell+ and more photos of the entire projects can be found on our blog post - DWELL FEATURE: PRESIDIO RESIDENCE WITH GEREMIA DESIGN.

Above: Wool Romans and Sheer Draperies we fabricated for a client in Orinda, CA. We also lined the sheer Romans with a Batiste sheer lining to protect them from the sun and give them a more finished look. Holland & Sherry wool

Forrest Glover Design Custom Window Treatments

High on our list of pros is the sustainability of wool and it’s what sparked our current obsession but the more we consider it, the more there is to love. Wool fibers absorb dye particularly well which means beautiful, rich color options that often are difficult to achieve in other fabrications. There are a variety of textural finishes as well, from mélange to bou·clé and even wool velvet to add depth and make a statement. It’s also a strong fiber and fabric so if you’re considering embellishments like embroidery wool is a great choice.

You might have noticed that wool has become more commonly used in active wear and the same reasons it’s good for your workout make it good for your home: it’s anti-microbial (so it’s mold and mildew resistant) and it’s naturally temperature-regulating (thermal and warming in the cold but breathable and moisture-wicking in heat). Because it absorbs and holds moisture, it’s also naturally flame resistant.

These are a few of the reasons we think wool is an elegant choice for windows.