I Slit A Sheet

Three sheets I slit.  Three common sheets I slit. 

And that’s how curtains became a part of our bedroom oasis.  I cut three twin sheets in half, cut them to the length I needed them, hemmed all cut sides, and hung them.  And, it only cost me $15. 

When we moved in to this house, I was dying to get our master bedroom together and in some semblance of “our space”.  So, after slapping up some paint (BM’s Heaven on Earth color-matched to Olympic low-VOC paint), moving in furniture, and making the bed, one of the first things we did was hang some curtains.  On a free whim, I used what we had which was one pair of extra-wide toile curtains from IKEA.  I cut each panel into thirds (we have three windows in our room) and we hung them on some cheap curtain rods we got from Big Lots.  I think the rods were $5 each or something like that.  Cheap.  Well, the rods were great and did the job but the curtains were a little to sparse…scratch that, they were just plain ugly:
 
Looking back makes me cringe…do you ever have those what-the-heck-was-I-thinking decorating moments?  Lesson:  Free decorating is not always better.

So, months later after I came to my decorating senses, I snatched up three flat twin sheets (Target brand) from Dirt Cheap for $5 each, slit ‘em and hung ‘em a little higher, and the room magically looked 100 times better. 

Sometimes I wish I would’ve spent an extra few dollars and bumped up to queen-size for thicker curtains but for now, we’ll just continue rolling with the twin theme. 

We have even bigger plans on the back-burner including a curvy, padded headboard, new pillow covers all around, a transformation of the existing bed skirt, a diyed slipcover for the raspberry elephant in the room, some chunky lamps (currently on the thrifting hunt), raising, painting, and spicing up (think mirrors!!) the existing nightstands, a coffee table turned bench for the foot of the bed (said coffee table is currently in hiding underneath the bed), some picture hanging, and whatever else pops into the dome piece by then.  Like I said, all of this is on the back-burner and all of it will be on the very cheap, per the usual.  The padded headboard WILL be done before #3 gets here so this mom has a comfy place to rest her back during those middle-of-the-night feedings?  The rest though?  Who knows.  Eventually.  :)

Nursery Progress: Curtains

It’s nursery time y’all!  Why I pushed getting it together until after the peas were born, I don’t know.  It’s taking me f o  r   e    v     e      r!  However, it’s evolving thanks to some same-schedule naps the twins took this week.

Here’s what their space looked like the last time we peeked in:

And here’s what it’s lookin’ like today:

Back then:

And now:  

Much improved thanks to a little decluttering, new, girlie curtains, and a snazzy new fan fixture (and minus uno crib currently in the master).  As for the curtains, the green ones weren’t meshing with the new color scheme for the room so I officially went on the hunt for something new.  I found it in the form of some Target, patterned sheers that I scored for 5 bucks a pop, hemmed to fit, and slapped up. (Sorry for the bad picture…still working on learning how to use the DSLR.)

Pretty but the room needed some color so I went on another official hunt for some peachy-pink fabric to line the new sheers with.  After searching for fabric, sheets…something cheap…I finally settled on some thin broadcloth from Hancock Fabrics that I got for $16 during a 60% off sale.  The only issue was that the broadcloth was only 45 inches wide, whereas my sheers were 54.  So, I had to do what I do best and improvise.

To do so, I cut two 54 inch pieces of fabric for each sheer, sewed them together to create one long panel, hemmed each edge, and then hemmed each to the length of the sheer it would back.  See the connecting seam?

     Since each piece was behind a sheer, I hoped that the seam wouldn’t be visible…and I was right.  No VCLs (Visible Curtain Lines) in this neighborhood.  :) 

After all of my solid pieces were sewn and ready, I simply attached them to the sheers by making a straight stitch along the top of each, connecting them.

I attached the solid backing a little lower than flush with the top of the sheer because instead of hanging the curtains from the top like so:

I wanted them to cover up the rod.  By sewing them the aforementioned way, I was able to attach the ring clips solely to the backing (if this makes any sense at all) like this:

So, up went the window curtains and presto: Another bad pic but you get what I’m throwin’ down…er, puttin’ up, right?  :)

 

As for the closet, it never did have doors to cover it’s insides so I went with the most simple solution of spray painting an old tension rod, slipping on some curtains rings, and hanging the similarly constructed fabric right on up.

Now we’re all pretty and privatized: 

 

Movin’ along to the fan, I found a large drum shade for $10 at a local discount store (Dirt Cheap) and simply put it up by resting it on the base of the screwed-in light bulb. 

I love the flavor and texture it adds to an otherwise b.o.r.i.n.g. but necessary light fixture.  What do you think?  Is it too big or does it fit your fancy?  I’m thinking of painting the fan blades a light taupe to match…should I or shouldn’t I?

.           .           .

Well, there you have it.  A nursery fit for two.  There’s still lots and lots to be done including painting the dresser and lining it’s drawers, recovering the rocking chair (currently in our room), making some sort of a foot rest, whipping up some crib skirts, getting some stuff hung on the walls, turning a tablecloth into a rug, making a window seat cushion, and a surprise that I’m working on next!  Whew!

It might take me a few more weeks (dare I say months?) but it’s going to be the cutest nursery on the block (in my vain opinion)!  Check back in as I post my progress! 

Have a funderful, wonderful weekend!

Nothing New

Happy Saturday everyone!  I for one am estatic that's it's the weekend because it happens to be the only weekend in three weekends that I've been home!  Last weekend, I went on a road trip with three high school crazies -

- to visit my alma mater, Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio.  The two weekends before that Anthony and I were retreats, one as chaperones and one as 'retreatants'.  All of the days in between it was work, work, work and no play, play, play (which you all know in my case is translated diy, diy, diy).  However, to keep you entertained and coming back, I've got a better-late-than-never AND I promise that next week's post will be 'wall' worth it!  :)

Anywho, let's take a trip down memory lane, circa this past summer, back when our tomato plants were pumping out those little, red, succulent, maters like it was no one's business...

and when more than one of our daily meals consisted solely of homemade salsa and chips.

Well, it was during those hot, humid, glory days that some friends and I decided to have a craft night.  We cranked out a couple of plain-shirts-made-fab-with-embellishments that night (neither of which I have pictures of...shame on bad blogger me) and the much pinned melted crayon art project.  The process is as follows:

1 - Glue

2 - Melt with hair dryer

 3 - Admire

We liked it upside-down.  :)

Twas much fun!

It was also around that same time that I stumbled upon this criss-cross, geometric fabric

at a local discount store (for $5 a yard),  in exactly the amount I'd need to do what I had in mind and proceeded to drive just a little bit over the speed limit all the way home to make these:

(Sorry for the awful picture.)

About a year ago, I adorned our french doors with sheers and this time, instead of replacing the sheers with the new geometrics, I simply layered the two.  :)

And that's all I've got this week...pitiful, I know.  Time has not been my friend.  However, due to Thanksgiving, I have the whole week off next week and I've already got a list started...enough for, hmmm, let's see, five future blog posts?  Busy bee I will be...a busy, happy bee that is.  :)

In the meantime, I'm off to try to steal Anthony away from his studying to help me start reupholstering the loveseat!  :) 

Have a great weekend everyone and a Happy Thanksgiving!  Thanksgiving day also happens to be my beloved's birthday this year so I'll be celebrating my blessings times two!

To: Rocky

This post has been a long time coming.  Right after I received my sewing machine, I jumped right in to making curtains.  My thought was, "I sewed a tote bag when I was 10; that's all the practice I need, right?".  And "What's so hard about sewing straight lines?".  Sew maybe I was a bit naive and presumptuous, but lucky for me, the curtains turned out awesome!  It turns out sewing straight seams on a big, rectangular piece of fabric isn't all that hard! 

Sew anyway, let's start from the beginning.  A couple of months ago I moseyed in to one of my favorite places to find cheap fabric and found this gorgeous fabric I had to have.  My first idea was to whip up some new curtains with it to replace the ones that were, at the time, hanging in our living room.  It was a little bit of a bold choice considering it had pink in it (and the fact that I have a very manly husband), but I thought it would be great at bringing spring into the house.

  Sew, I bought it, got home, and sadly realized it wouldn't look as good as I had thought.  :(  The background of the print on the fabric was a creamy white (or so it looked in the store) but when I brought it home it looked a little more light tan than creamy white and clashed with the shade of light tan on our walls.  Sew the wheels in my mind started rolling.  One of my sisters is pregnant, sew I could make them for her to put in her little girl's room...but little girl or little boy, we wouldn't know which until the day he or she enters the world a few months down the road.  Then I remembered that my other sister, Rocky (her real name is Raquel but that's just a technicality) has bedding that would really complement the colors in the fabric.  Sew, hoping she only had one window in her bedroom, I called her with my idea (which I excitedly exclaimed could be her birthday present) and she told me she and her one-windowed bedroom would love new curtains!  Out came my sewing machine!

First, I cut the five yards of fabric in half to create two panels. 

Yes, I used my living room floor as it is the only flat space large enough to make clean cuts.  :)

Then, like a good beginning seamstress, I ironed down the hem on each side of the panels by first folding down a half-inch hem, ironing it down, then folding once more sew that in the end I had an inch of fabric on each side as a hem.  Make sense?  Two folds, one hem.  :)

  After I ironed down each side, I pinned the hems about every two feet just to make sure they'd stay in place until I got thread in them.  Then I got to sewing.  Everything was going great - I figured out how to thread my bobbin (YouTube was extremely helpful), thread my machine, and guide the fabric through...and then the needle broke.  :(

Boo.  Not planning on this bump in the road, I didn't think to buy replacement needles.  Sew, there my fun (for that day anyway) ended until I had time to grab new needles.  When I did purchase new needles though, I learned that there are different types of needles - different strengths for different types of fabrics.  Who knew?  Not beginner me!  :)  So I picked up some light duty needles (which where like the one I had that had broken) and some heavier duty ones (which I really should've been using).

Sew, with a new needle and renewed motivation, I zipped through the rest of the seams and mailed my first-ever, homemade curtains to Rocky just in time for her birthday (okay, so maybe I was a couple of months early) and she hung them up.

Here are a couple of before shots of her lonely window:

I must mention that she hung the curtain brackets and rod all by her lonesome.  I'm not going to say that we're born with innate power tools skills in our family but...well, we are.  I was so proud of her!  :)

Sew, without further ado, here's her new, curtained view:

I even sent her the little piece of remaining fabric so she could dress up the little decor pillow on her bed.  Isn't she good?

Sew that's it folks, my first, I-did-it-all-by-myself sewing project ever.  Needless to say, it certainly wasn't the last, which reminds me that I've got so much more to share with you as it regards curtains (read about my sewing adventure for Trading Spaces here).  I did eventually find some awesome fabric for our living room and I'll share those curtains in the future!  Have a great weekend!

P.S.  We were busy this entire last week running a "Theology of the Body for Teens Summer Party Camp" so, the love seat hasn't been touched.  But, this week should be a little more relaxed so hopefully I'll have some progress (hopefully lots of progress) to write about next week!

From Farm Girl to Seamstress

Let me begin with a laugh...I almost named this post "I'm An Official 'Sewer'", meaning a person who sews ('sewer' may or may not really mean that though) when I noticed that, coincidentally I could be telling y'all that I'm a festering puddle of human and/or animal excrement...great!  So, I nixed that title.  

On to more important things though...I made my first pillowcases today!  I also made my curtains with an actual 'sewing machine' rather than iron-on tape!  I am pretty much a professional seamstress...or not...no, I'm really not.  I'm pretty sure I probably broke every sewing rule making these but it worked.  The only thing I've ever "made" by myself with a sewing machine was a tote bag for 4-H in like 4th grade...up until today.  But making that tote bag definitely prepared me for today.  :)  Let me give you the details.

A few days ago I was looking around in my favorite discount store when I found a light green, full size, flat sheet that matched the green of our duvet cover in our office.  It was Target brand and the best part...2 BUCKS!  I happily waltzed out of the store knowing that I could get a pair of curtains and two matching pillowcases out of that baby before I was done with it. 

So, this morning I set up my convenient, sewing workspace.

And yes, I will use the fact that our dining room also doubles as a great craft room as a selling point someday when we decide to sell this house.  :)

When I was out and about the other day dreaming about the new sheet I would soon transform I picked up a hand-held sewing machine (since I won't have a real sewing machine until Santa comes) at Wal-Mart for about $16.  Yes, cheap it is and my job it will do.

 

To make the curtains I simply cut the sheet in half, cut off the excess, vertical length after measuring my window, grabbed my little machine and wizzed away down the unfinished sides.  Before I started sewing, I ironed a crease down the side I sewed and drew a light line with pencil that I could follow to make things a little easier.

Here's a close-up of my cute, little stitches.  Not bad for a beginner, eh?  :)

I found a curtain rod for $5 at the same store I found my sheet, bought 14 curtains rings for $7, and up went my finished curtains.  I even hung the rod all by myself!  I was so excited!  It's the first time I've ever...or the first time Anthony's let me...hang anything but picture frames on my own! 

(Keep reading to see the finished curtains.)

Now on to the pillowcases.  First of all, I don't do zippers...or, I don't know how to do zippers (yet) so any way that I sewed a pillowcase had to be easy and done without any zippers.  My best friend is pretty much a genius though and (unknowingly) provided me with inspiration on how to make pillowcases that could easily come off and be washed.

First, I took the excess fabric left over from my sheet and decided to fold it in half so that the fold would end up being one side of my pillow...if that makes sense.  So I only had to sew three sides.

Then I measured the width of my pillow with a ribbon measuring tape from side-seam to side-seam to make sure I made my new cover the right size. 

The day my best friend inspired me with this project was when she used a standard sized pillowcase to cover a really small pillow by placing the small pillow inside the pillowcase and then folding the leftover 'case' into the back and inside of the encased pillow.  That is the only way I know how to describe it and I'm so sorry if it leaves your mind spinning.  So, I'd have to make my pillowcases longer than the needed to be and with one side open so that I could just tuck in the extra and untuck it when the case needed to be washed.

Hopefully this picture helps.

When the pillow is displayed from the front, you can't even tell the fabric is tucked in in the back...score for being easy, convenient, AND pretty!

So back to the sewing, after I sewed together the sides of my pillow (inside-out when sewing them together) and securing some ends with a quick seam, my cases were finished...well almost.  Next up is spicing them up with some white paint in some sort of design or maybe a monogram on the front.  But that's for another day.  :)

Here's my sewing masterpieces!  Sew cool!

As always, I want to know about your projects!  How do you make cheap cute?!