|
My mom and step-dad came to town for a visit two weeks ago. The purpose of their visit? So my mom and I could play curtain sweat shop. I mean, doesn’t everyone put their parents to work when said parents drive 3 hours to spend quality time with their dear offspring?
 This whole process started when I saw Kim’s dining room curtains. Who knew it was so easy (and cost effective) to make your own curtains? Kim’s curtains led me to Meredith’s tutorial on how to make curtains.
So in mid-June when I came across a fabric that I loved (54″ Waverly Lovely Lattice Lagoon), I knew I had to make curtains for our snoozefest of a living room. Isn’t it dreamy?
I called my mom at 9:30PM on a Saturday night. She was sleeping. But I was sitting at home on my laptop on a Saturday night so I guess that’s no better. We chatted on the phone about how much yardage I would need to buy. At one point, she disagreed with me and I remember saying, “Bonnie, you’re not understanding my vision.” To which she said, “I guess I don’t, Chelsea Ann”. Ahh, mother-daughter relationships.
I purchased 10.5 yards for $98. Tip: Always search for a coupon code before purchasing. That’s how I saved $17. Boom.
OK, back to the slave labor.
 We cut four 95 inch panels. Then we got to work folding over the length-wise edges and sewing them. We didn’t bother cutting off the edges because 1. no one sees them and 2. it won’t fray, so why bother?
 We did about a 4 inch hem at the top.
 And about a 5 inch hem at the bottom.
 We hung the curtain panels with ribbon that I hot glued on. Sounds kind of crazy, doesn’t it? We used 1 1/2 inch x 3 inch and 5/8 inch x 3 inch ribbon, spaced about 4-5 inches apart. I used a lighter to melt the edges and keep them from fraying. The thicker strips were used in the middle, while the thinner strips on the ends. Why’d we do that? Well, I realized that if we used the thicker ribbon on the ends it would look a little wonkier once we got the curtains up on the rods.
 Now, this project didn’t go without some snags. First, my sewing machine desperately needs to be serviced. Secondly, the fabric was printed crooked. This drove my Type A self bonkers.
The tape measure in the photo is straight. The fabric, however, is not.
 But we worked it out, and you can’t tell that it’s crooked now that they’re hung.
I love a good before and after so here’s the before.
 And the after.
 Can I just say that I HATE photographing our living room? I probably spent 3 hours (I wish I was kidding) trying to photograph the dresser turned TV stand. There’s something about the light that I just can’t get. I’m also going to blame my 7 year old DSLR. Mama needs a new camera. I’m talking to you, Santa.
My step-dad thought I was crazy for putting curtains on our backdoor. He kept saying, “I’ve never seen curtains on a backdoor”. To which I replied that I’m a visionary, and I’m going to start a trend. I also may have gone on and on about my love of symmetry.
 The door curtains have worked out fine. We just have to remember to move them out of the way when we open and close the door.
Because I’m all about transparency, here’s the breakdown of how much cheddar I dropped on this project.
Fabric: $98… Fabric.com (also found here)
Curtain rods: $22… Target
Ribbon: $3… JoAnn Fabric– I used 50% off coupons
Thread: $0… already had it
TOTAL: $123
Not bad, right?
|
|
|
