Beachy Striped curtains

This is from my old place, but I just realized I never shared it here. It is a tutorial to make easy panel curtains. I need to make another big set of them, but I love them so much they are definitely going to look awesome in the new place!

I had a friend come over and teach me how to make panel curtains. I used hardware I bought  from Ikea that the curtains clipped onto, so I didn't even need to make a pocket for a rod. The results were beautiful, and I wanted to share her method with you.

The fabric is the same color blue as my table cloth and valance. They make my living room feel bigger and   finished.

Here is the before shot. There was nothing wrong with the old curtains, but they were so dark. They were also thinly lined and that window gets direct sunlight in the afternoon. I also have a window next t the brown couch you can't see that had no curtains at all. It's just one of those things I always meant to get around to.

There wasn't a specific method to measurement on this, but I would estimate we cut the fabric and lining 10 inches longer than the length of the window. I did not cut the width of the fabric. I used the full panel. Both the fabric and the lining measured 54 inches. I used two full panels on my 75 inch window and one panel cut in half on my 36 inch window.

I placed the lining fabric on the floor and smoothed it out. I used a blackout lining which felt kind of like plastic and was afraid to press it. In the end all the wrinkles worked themselves out. I placed the lining with the right side facing down.

Next place the fabric on top right side facing up. Your lining and fabric should right wrong sides together.

Then I pinned the fabric together along the two long sides and one short side.

Next slowly baste the fabric and lining together along one short side and one long side. It was nice to have a second person to help me deal with that much fabric. It wasn't hard to do, but it was heavy. Also, I found sewing with the fabric side up kept me from stretching out the lining as I went.

Now lay it back out and check the pins on your remaining side. If any ripples formed readjust the pins and continue basting the other long and short side. As you can see, I got some ripple in mine. Once your fabric is basted you will treat it as one piece of fabric.

If you are making two panels out of your one piece of cloth this is the time to cut it as needed and go ahead and baste the fabric together again on the newly cut edge.

Trim off any excess fabric or lining that may happen. I did not get very much of extra to trim off. Next I double folded the fabric to hide any raw edges and pinned it around both long sides and one short side. Because I had striped fabric, I cheated. I did not measure. I simply followed the edge of a stripe to ensure it would be straight. Making striped curtains really has its benefits!

I can't resist a shot of my assistant wondering if we will ever get to stop pinning! When you are finally done pinning go ahead and sew all the way around where you just pinned.

 I laid the panels out again at this point to check for anything weird, but everything looked good.

Now go hang your panel up. You finally get a peek at how your curtains will look! This is also how we hemmed them.

Pull the bottom of your curtain a few inches out from the wall and pin along the bottom where it is touching the floor. My friend Holly said that is how you get a hem that will just skim the floor. It worked! If you look closely you can just see a pin on each side. If you are hemming a wider curtain you will want more than two pins. For some reason I just got better pictures of the thin paneled curtain hem.

Take the curtain back down and head to your machine to hem it. I left my pin in and simple double folded the curtain so that my pin was still at the bottom. Next I stitched all the way across. Again, with a wider panel we used the same concept. We just pinned more and went a little slower.

Now you have custom made floor skimming panel curtains! I completed this project over two evenings. I would say total time spent on all curtains was about five hours. It is not hard just a lot of fabric to contend with.

Here is the view of my side window curtains from behind my monster television. I have not jumped on the flat screen trend yet. I just love the look of the final results! I find myself standing in my living room and just looking at the difference these curtains made. I can also see my dining room from the living room and my living room from my kitchen, so having this blue in all the rooms provides a nice sense of continuity. I have some more leftover fabric again, so expect to see accessories!

Again, here is the front window with the large panels. Thanks for reading, and I hope you will share pictures of you make any of the projects featured here.

Success and the Laurel contest

I'm really glad Colette had the Laurel contest. I didn't really think much of the dress at first, but dangling a carrot in front of me is always a good way to get a response. The dress turned out to be pretty flattering and a fun make.

I have been working since Thanksgiving to lose a little weight and am at about a 30 pound loss right now. I am finding it hard to find motivation to make much in the way of clothing because I am out shrinking my clothes. The last time I wore my Clovers that were such a killer fit, my husband told me I looked sick. But not the good kind of sick. I think the Laurel is the first thing I have really made myself in a while. It is nice to have a fitted garment and to see how my dress size has changed. Also, a dress I didn't think would be cute on me at all actually turned out to be awesome! So while I don't expect to win anything (have you seen some of the entries?!?!) I'm really glad to have been encouraged to try something new. Oh yeah, and to have some clothes that don't make me look sick! 

I bought these fabric for more Laurels. It is a very light weight sheer fabric. I think I will add some sleeves. I love that red one even more in person!

Also, I have some home decor fabric waiting to be made up. I need to make more of my blue and white curtains. The above fabrics will be in the master. From top to bottom I have drapes, comforter and finally the dust ruffle. We painted the house a very neutral color, so all these vibrant colors should look amazing. Now, I am just waiting for the tile in the washroom to be sealed and dry so I can prewash everything. The wait is driving me nuts!!!!

Life in the Jungle quilt

I have a friend that asked me to make a baby quilt for a little boy. I had total creative license and chose Riley Blake's Life in the Jungle line. It also had a panel to make a little book too... so cute.

I made a crazy quilt, which is just 6 fat quarters and a yard of sashing. I went with 4" wide sash cuts. I wasn't sure about the grey, but I absolutely love how sweet this quilt is looking! I have some aqua voile in my stash I am thinking of using to back the quilt, but I'm worried it will be flimsy. Has anyone ever backed a quilt with voile?

Here is a close up of one of the blocks with sashing. I love the cute little animals and bright colors!

Floral Laurel

I'm back! I have been working my butt off at the house, but I needed a break. I've been wearing my laurel top about twice a week, so I decided to give the dress a go. I did not make any alterations as the top fit perfectly, but I will admit that next time I make it it will be a bit longer. This one is definitely a non-work dress.

I used another bargain piece from Joann's that has been in my stash. I love the big floral print. This is a polyester that has a nubby outside and a super silky inside. It frayed like a beast.

I skipped the zipper again, but decided to cut it as described in case I needed to make any adjustments to the back. It was unnecessary, but next time I may grade down in the hips. The 14 on my is practically an A-line! Totally cute though.

I finished the neck with the bias binding hidden, but decided to keep it on the arm holes as an accent. I just like how it looked when I held it up, although from far away it gets lost.

My insides look almost identical to the outside except the fabric is shiny and the colors are a bit muted. Because the fabric frayed so much just while cutting it, I decided to do French seams everywhere, That seemed to solve the problem well and looks very nice. I definitely see a couple more of these in my future, 

Time for a tune up

I hate posts without pictures, so I had to add this one. This is my assistant and myself posing in someone's front yard which was full of blue bonnets. That's the state flower for Texas and we have tons of them right now. That picture also added fuel to the fire of my argument that throwing wildflower seeds in our new front lawn then not having to mow or worry about landscaping until summer is a completely legit way of dealing with the new house. We are set to move in next weekend. I know what you are thinking...

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded time,

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Yes, I just busted out some Shakespeare on you. This is the speech from Macbeth I like to give when I want to do something and it keeps getting put off. Yes, I actually do that. Yes, it usually ends in dramatic eye rolling from Mr. Thinks He Can. Wait, where am I going with this?

OK, so I kept putting off packing because I was jacking around with projects as a form of procrastination. I knew my sewing room in the new house was ready, so I should be moving it. Now, as a really bad example of someone who likes to act like they know their way around a sewing machine I've been meaning to get that sucker tuned up for about a year and a half. That's right. The Singer is at a shop being tuned up, finally, and I am slowly but surely packing things up because in doing so I have tied my hands from doing any projects. So, at the end of the week I am moving. On Monday at the latest I will get my machine back all tuned up and will commence living in the new house. It is a win, win for everyone!

By the way, yes, I still have a serger, but I have moved my fabric stash to keep the temptation from getting the best of me. Now I am off to read all your blogs from this weekend pack! Oh, who am I kidding!

My first Laurel!

I would call it a success! I didn't mean to sew the whole thing though... I was going to wait for Holly. Then, this morning I thought I would cut out the fabric. This was going to be a dress, but the way the fabric fell, it would have made the bodice look weird. I didn't have enough paper to trace the shirt pieces, so I cut it at the shorten or lengthen here line. I then used a 2" hem. I was more concerned about how the bodice would fit anyway. I have lost a little weight and figured I would be in a smaller size. My hips are still way smaller than anything else. I cut a 14 all the way, but my hips are actually a size 10 measurement. Go figure. Enough about me!

The fabric is a border print I got dirt cheap and have a ton of. It is a very light weight cotton. The shirt fit like a glove with no adjustments. I don't even have to move darts!

The back matches up in its own special way I am just fine wearing it as is. 

Pretty guts! So here is what happened. I thought I would just cut the fabric. Then I thought I would go ahead and mark the darts. Then I thought the yellow chalk was really light, so if I didn't sew the darts the markings would fade. Then I thought, I'd just baste it all together and check the fit. Holly wouldn't want to sit through all the drama if it didn't fit right.

Then I put it over my head. And it went on, without a zipper. Then I got all excited because it fit perfect, so I texted Holly some crazy bad pictures from my bathroom mirror. Then I finished all the edges to make sure they would stay since they were just basted. Then, I saw this green bias tape staring up from my estates sale finds. Finally the Mortal Combat theme started playing my head and "Finish It!" flashed in front of my eyes, and I did the whole thing. I'm glad I did, this took about two hours from cutting to manic sewing. 

I didn't do anything fancy here. No hand stitching the bias down. I sewed through the whole thing on my machine and serged the raw edges. I'm really pleased with the fit. I wasn't sure this style would look right on me, but I think it is pretty flattering. As for those Colette directions I love so much. I read them last night and didn't refer to them at all while sewing the dress. That goes to show how thorough they are! Man it was nice to sew something today - especially something I love and can imagine a whole gang of!

Fun with Google Key words

This was too funny not to share! I think I found my super power in my Google Keywords. Someone found me when they typed in 'can't button pants girl'. I like it. Now I have an alter ego, what is my theme song...