Another set of curtains done

DH's curtains are finally done and up. I achieved my goal of getting them done before XMas (ahead of time, even), but we were feeling so lazy and relaxed over the big holiday itself that he didn't get around to putting up the rods until yesterday.

It's unusually sunny and bright for Hilo this morning, so even with a flash it's hard to take a window shot. Here's the best I managed:

These are about 60" long, plus the tabs. They do bring some much-needed color to the all-white room. And pushed back, as they will almost always be, they are "not too girly." Second best part of this project is it gave me a reason to learn to use the blind-hem foot/function on my sewing machine. Not sure this shot is any better, but here's view 2, anyway:

Best part is, Mr. Wonderful declined an accent pillow for his desk chair ("too girly"), which meant there was JUST enough fabric left for me to make a skirt from TNT Burda 8280. I had to cut the pieces just slightly off-grain, but getting a skirt from this luscious fabric is such a nice bonus I won't care if it's less than perfect in execution. It's not like I'm a fashionista or anything.

The skirt has a curved hem, which I wasn't quite prepared to do by machine, given my limited blind-hem experience, but I got the hem sewn by hand last night. My eyes gave out before I finished stitching the waist facing to the side seams and zip, and I still have to add a hook and eye (my most-loathed sewing task), but it will be wearable very soon.

More curtains in progress

... sort of. I have managed, over the course of about a week and a half, to cut four curtain panels to length and trim off the selvedge (and drape them over my ironing board, as you see here). That's not exactly a stunning rate of progress.

These are going to be for my husband's home office. When he saw the curtains I made for my office, he realized how greatly his space needed some big, bold color, too. He insisted nothing else would do but a  large blue and green print, something suitable for our tropical location without being too over-the-top Hawaiian/aloha-print. We found this stunning fabric, from Anna Maria Horner's "Drawing Room" collection, in the close-out section at Fabric.com, and it is perfect. Floral, yes, but such a bold scale that it's not "too girly" for DH.

We picked up the curtain hardware a couple of days ago, so now I have no excuse not to get these done by Christmas Eve. Yikes, that's less than a week away: I'd better pick up the pace.

I still need to cut the lining pieces, cut and sew 36 rod 'tabs', and learn how to use the blind-hem foot on my sewing machine. DH won't care how they are hemmed, but I do. Besides, I want to learn how to do a blind hem, and this seems like a good project for that. I'm going to practice on scraps, of course, but first I need to cut all those tab lengths and see what, if any, yardage is left. I might see if I can get a pillow from this fabric, too.

Fortunately most of my other XMas prep is done, so I can focus on this project over the weekend. I can't wait to see them done and up; they are going to be gorgeous!

Guest of Honor Curtains...

... for my home office! Ignore, please the messy desk. Things got moved aside, and then I was so eager to snap pics as soon as the rods and curtains were up that I haven't even unplugged the power drill yet. My office is the dining alcove: the plants are orchids on top of some storage cabinets that function as a room divider so the space feels less like an alcove and more like a separate room. Here's the view from the kitchen:

It took me a long time to make these. I got the fabric all measured and cut some not too long after we moved in early this summer, and then was distracted by life and other projects. I kept thinking I ought to sew these up, but after getting our bedroom curtains done (shown here, two of the five total made, Amy B fabric, not blogged yet):

I just couldn't face another curtains project right away. Which turned out to be about two months.

But the sun has been inching ever southward as we've inched into autumn, and glare on my computer screen has (as I suspected) become a problem. I didn't want to change my office layout (for feng shui reasons, as well as it's a very small space and options are limited), so curtains are the solution.

These are made from Anna Maria Horner's "Guest of Honor" fabric from her Garden Party line, with borders in two colorways in "Dance Floor" from the same collection. Many thanks to Kerith at Material Girl Shoppe for the fabric, good price, and great service. I look forward to shopping with you again.

I did not make these curtains "by the book" at all. For one thing, they are quilting fabric, which is not very wide, nor does it have the heft and drape a good curtain should have. Well, too bad. I love, love, love everything about this print. So yes, while the curtains do cover the windows when drawn shut, they are not as wide as they should be according to curtain-making guidelines. Sad truth is that 1.5-2X window width for fabric means double the yardage (i.e., cost) plus at least twice the cutting headaches plus finicky print matching on the seams. It just wasn't going to happen.

So, these are just one fabric width wide each. There is barely 1/8" turn-back at the sides, as I didn't want to sacrifice even fractions of an inch in width. Lining is a cheap cotton-poly blend in pale blue. I experimented with using a "clip strip" at the top back, so the curtain ring clips would be hidden rather than grasp the top edge of the curtain, but after doing one curtain I decided I didn't have the energy or patience to go that route. So, visible clips it is, even though I don't like them. They sure are easy, and that's worth a lot to me.

Here are some close-ups of the borders. The top is interfaced (on the lining) for 3", to avoid drooping between the curtain ring clips. So nice to work with coordinating prints, as the color match is perfect. I love how the red border at the bottom picks up the colors of the blossom centers:

Next up, I have some of this fabric with white blooms, and I'm going to use that to make a big pillow for my desk chair. I might even have enough left of the blue "Dance Floor" to trim the pillow with it.

Only problem is that these dress up my office so nicely that my husband has decided that his office needs curtains, too (we both work at home, so we have two full-time home offices). He's right, too. Compared to my office, his now looks bland and blank and white, and in need of some nice fabric embellishment in the window area. I don't think he has anything as boldly floral as this in mind, so first challenge is to get some idea of what kind of fabric he'll be happy with. I really hope we don't have to settle for something traditionally gag-inducing like boring stripes or plaid. We're just not the traditional type, either of us.

Curtains inching along

No photo today, I have nothing to brag about except that I've been making forward progress on the bedroom curtains. The top and bottom borders have been cut and sewn, bottom hem done, top pressed and ready for lining, the linings have been cut to length, hemmed, and interfaced at the top for 3". (My hope is that the interfacing will keep the curtains from sagging too much between clips.)

Now I have to trim the sides of everything, and sew fronts and linings together. I'd have made more progress today but I've been greatly distracted by obsessive checking of online weather forecasts re Hurricane Felicia. I'm pleased to say that as of the 5pm update today the forecast track no longer passes DIRECTLY over my house, but has shifted slightly northward.

Fingers crossed she continues drifting to the north and doesn't wander back this way. Chances of Felicia dwindling to a tropical depression before she hits (passes by?) Hilo on Monday have been lowered since yesterday, but even a tropical storm is better than a hurricane, and I remain hopeful she'll suffer a catastrophic breakdown sometime in the next 36 hours.

Best case scenario it will all turn out to be much ado about not very much weather. I'm prepared for the power to be out for at least a bit and maybe a while. Which means I might need a hand-sewing project to keep me entertained. I'm thinking scrap-fabric leaves appliqued around the bottom of my pink linen skirt. I think I'll Google "leaf applique" and see what I can find online.

Curtain #1

We love, love, love this new house, but man, does it need curtains.

Nice tall window above the "throne" in the second bath has a view of an empty lot and banana trees, but there are houses on the other side of that lot and at night it feels very exposed in there! Even though I doubt anyone can see in. Why the builder didn't use frosted glass is a mystery.

The room is all white, and in desperate need of COLOR, so I pieced this from several colorways of Kaffe Fassett "lake blossom" plus a couple of coordinates from the stash. It's roughly 20"x30", lined with plain white cotton sheeting from the stash.

I have grand plans for a shower-curtain to go with it (planned out already from KF stash fabric, but not a priority; I probably won't get to it for a while).

This weekend it's nice and rainy, so I plan to stay indoors and make some progress on curtains for my new home office. They're gonna be gorgeous. Here's a sneak peak:

(Anna Maria Horner fabric laid out on floor so I can play with motif placement and border width; color's a bit off, but you get the idea)

I hope to maybe cut fabric for bedroom curtains, too. Will be using Amy B's new colorway of "trailing blossoms". Nice that I had a piece in the stash for inspiration, but of course significant additional yardage was required. I have way blown my fabric budget this summer, that's for sure. And I cringe at the thought of updating the year-to-date yardage chart to see how far behind I've fallen.

BTW: Still haven't taken pics of all those FQ skirts I made just before the move. That's because at any given moment I'm usually wearing one, and another one or two are in the laundry basket. They are soooo comfy. A long way from haute couture, but they suit my personality and lifestyle and they are at the top of my (short) "sewing successes list. I'll show 'em off here one of these days.