2.27.2013

Curtains: In which I break all the rules

Yay! I got this done this afternoon, in other words, just in time for the Pinterest Challenge over at YHL and Bowerpower.com!

I'm making a lot of progress on the master bedroom - if by progress I mean I get a project done every 3-4 months. At this rate, it will be done in 5 years. But at least it will be done, right? So when last we left off (before Jonah was born!) we had just painted the bedroom walls a light aqua-ish color that I no longer know the name of and the nghtstands got a new coat of a fun clementine-y color that I no longer remember the name of. Note to self: keep better notes of anything occuring in the last month or two of your pregnancies, newborns have mind sucking powers and no matter how much you try to convince yourself you will remember these things, you won't.


My next project was curtains.This is what we threw up when we first moved in.



And by threw up, I mean it. They are just placed into the brackets from the previous owners.



Isn't that the saddest thing! But it kept out the light - which still didn't really help Lucy sleep through the night but at least let me feel like I tried. And it's not like I knew those were great or good or even decent, I just couldn't figure out what I did want. I knew it had to be something fun. So far everything in the room was a solid and while I loved it as a base, it's a bit boring. But the layout of the room is odd. Both curtains are in the same corner and the room is very small. I was worried anything too interested would make the room seem unbalanced.

Then I stumbled upon this picture from Apartment therapy and I was in love.



 Short curtains! Crazy, I know. But I loved them with the colorblock on the end. And I could add a fun print there (which would never have been seen if I put the fun print on the bottom of full length curtains due to the layout). And the practical side of me liked the idea too. No lifting curtains to vacuum and well, the kitty box just happens to be under those curtains and long curtains + littler = gross.



The bottom fabric was a little tricky because I wanted Craig to approve and he didn't like anything I did. But finally I found this amy butler fabric that had both of our current colors plus bright green which is favorite of mine (anyone that has seen my converse sneakers or sakura bloom ring sling should know that!) as well as a couple other ones for me to use later on. And he liked it, hey mickey! The top I did in a bright white linen. We have several whites and creams going on and while I know someone people don't like that, I do!

Since I was getting nice fabric and using blackout fabric, I thougth I would go ahead and sew these the right way instead of just throwing something up there. I follow this tutorial for the basic curtain (although I did reduce the hem sizes a bit since my curtains where much shorter and I didn't hem the liner because mine was blackout fabric and that doesn't need to be hemmed) and even learned how to do a blind hem with my machine (I had the stitch this whole time but didn't know it!) from this awesome post.


And here is the finished project!



More Amy Butler Love. And I have just enough of this fabric left to make a pillow.


Now time to for the next project. And if you're lucky, you might be seeing it here in another 6 months or so.

4 comments :

  1. Love them!

    (This is the first time I've actually clicked over to your site from my reader - I haven't missed any posts, I promise! - and it looks great. Nice blog facelift!)

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  2. Sometimes I think that the "rules" are really a conspiracy between designers and fabric companies. Of course they want you to do ceiling to floor curtains--it's so much more fabric! I really like the color block and will probably steal the idea for my new place.

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  3. I just read the blind hem stitch tutorial. I've always wondered how that stitch worked! I'm so excited about starting curtains now!

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  4. I think you might be on to something with the conspiracy. Since these were for our master bedroom, I wanted nice fabric and paid for it (although 40% Joanne coupon helped a lot!). Not crazy amounts, but probably similar to what I would have spent if I bought full panels at target. I can't even imagine how much I would have spent if I had doubled my fabric. I also overspent because I forget that since I was doing short curtains and blackout fabric is wider than normal, I could turn it on it's side - but now I have about 2.5 yrs left for whenever I get around to making Lucy some real blackout curtains (as opposed to the double layer ones she has now)

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