Secco: Drapes to Drink By

Last month a friend put out a Facebook bulletin looking for someone to hem her new jeans in exchange for a bottle of wine (Inama Vin Soave). It was Julia of River City Cellars and I figured I can sew and I can drink, so I'm your girl. I'm on it.

She must have been pleased with my work because last week she contacted me with something much grander in mind. Would I be willing to make the drapes for her upcoming wine bar Secco in Carytown? The payoff sounded good, so sure, I said I'd do it. Just don't call me Suzy Homemaker.

I love rainy days, so after doing my four miles with an umbrella yesterday, I decided it was drape-making time. And while i have a really terrific apartment in Jackson Ward, there aren't many 9 1/2' furniture-free stretches in it. The hallways is long enough but not wide enough, the aged beagle spends his day moving from place to place in the living room and it didn't seem worth it to move the table out of the dining room. Okay, so the bedroom won by default.

So began the tedious process of laying out, measuring, ironing, pinning, sewing and ironing some more. Keep in mind that each of these six panels is fully four feet longer than I am; I periodically felt like I was in a fabric cocoon.

And voila! After a mere six hours, I had six panels ready for blocking the afternoon sun from the western windows at Secco. I got cleaned up for my wine dinner plans and headed over to Secco to deliver the goods. As it turned out, I also got to meet the kitchen staff and admire the boiling octopus they were cooking (with corks in the pot for tenderizing it; the things I randomly learn as I trip through life continue to amaze me).

Server-to-be Lincoln was industrious enough to fetch a ladder and immediately hang the drapes. I was gratified by the impressed nosies made by everyone once they were hung. I have to admit they did add a nice finishing touch to the space.

So when Secco finally opens in a week or so and you're sitting inside sipping some grape, take a moment to check out the locally-sourced window treatments. It's not every day you see Jackson Ward-made drinking drapes and these are a fine example of such.

I'm not bragging; I'm just happy to see J-Ward representing in Carytown. The Ward is after all, the home of Whiskey Wednesday and the dumping ground for an obscene number of empty 40-ounce bottles on a daily basis.

There's a certain poetic justice to knowing we can produce drinking drapes for our uptown grape friends. Do take note and raise a glass to the Ward.