It's Curtains for You!

It's curtains for you, kid.  You're gonna be sleepin' in da dark from now on!

I *finally* got some curtains hung!  *Happy dance*  I'm not done, yet, not by a long shot.  But!  I've got the master bedroom curtains finished, and one set hung.  Bryan made all right side brackets at first, which made it difficult to hang anything up at first.  He made some left side brackets the other day, and announced that they're ready to go up.  Yay!  He's awesome!

He cut some squares, then used a boring bit to make a hole in half the squares that would be the right diameter for the dowels we're going to use as curtain rods.  Then he cut out one side of the hole to make a sort of slot to slide the dowel down in to.  Add some hanging brackets, pretty trim, and stain, and you've got some really nifty hardware for pretty cheap.

I think they look way nicer, too.

For my curtains, I cannibalized the sheers and scarves that I used to have hanging from the canopy of my bed.

These were a couple dollars at the dollar store several years ago.  I have four panels, and as it turns out, one panel is wide enough for each window in the master bedroom.  The guest bedroom window is wider and will need two full panels.

These window scarves were also from the dollar store.  They're ridiculously long, and I'd guess almost 5 ft wide.  I had two, so I cut one in half long way to make narrower scarves.

 This stuff is some heavy wool that I found at a clearance fabric shop a long time ago.  It's very thick, and has a color similar to burlap.  I only needed a couple yards at the time I bought it, but it was so cheap I bought a ton of it.  I figured I'd eventually find a use for it.  And I have :-)  It'll make great blackout/insulating window shades.

I think that, for an accidental compilation, they look pretty good together.

 These are my ancient pinking shears.  They were my Gramma's.  Unless I am mistaken, they're from the mid-late 1930's.  They are a little scratched, and the blacking on the handles is a little worn, but there's not rust on them, and they cut smooth as ever.  Since sheer fabric is a complete pain in the butt to hem accurately because it's so slippery, I figured I'd just use the pinking shears to cut it, then use a decorative stitch to sew just behind the cut edge.  It'll still fray, but I don't mind that.

 I used thread that doesn't quite match on purpose.  I wanted the stitches to be visible.

 I likewise didn't technically hem the wool.  It won't fray much at all, because it's so dense, and I wanted it to  have a similar look/feel to the shabby-ish sheers.

Instead of sewing the wool panel and the sheers separately, and having to hang them tandem, I sewed the wool to the back of the sheers so it all hangs in one piece.  I pleated the shears at the top a little.

And used a burgundy thread when I sewed the wool to the back to repeat the decorative stitch pattern.  Burgundy may seem odd, since nothing else on my curtains is burgundy, but my bedding is burgundy, cream, and brown, so I wanted to toss some red into the curtains somehow.  It's such a small bit of red, it won't even be really noticeable, but I know it's there, and I like it :-P

Unfortunately, I didn't allow myself quite as much width on the wool panel as I really needed for a solid blackout.  But, I (surprisingly) didn't have as much wool as there appeared to be.  In order to have enough to do both windows in the master bedroom, I had to stick uncomfortably close to the actual window dimensions with almost no overhang anywhere.  I still have some wool leftover, and it's enough for a small project, but I won't get any more curtains out of it.  I'll have to figure something else out for the guest bedroom's blackout shades.  

They're not the neatest curtains ever.  I'd like to find a better way to keep the edges of the sheer fabrics from fraying.  They look heat pressed or something on the factory finished edges.  I wonder if I could singe it slightly to melt the cut threads together?  Maybe that'll be something to figure out when I have to take them down, but for now they won't really be getting moved around or fussed with enough to cause the edges to fray.  But, I think they look pretty good :-) 

They also function as intended.  Even with only one window covered, the room is noticeably cooler throughout the day, even with the sun shining right on the window.