Switcheroo

I spend a lot of time in our spare room/office lately. Its where I do the ironing and where the computer is and most importantly where we hang the jolly jumper!! Now I never really liked the curtains I hung in here... I had bought the material for a different project but it hadn't worked out so I just turned them into curtains and hung them in here. They look like old lady curtains... I loath them that much!!! Here they are to refresh your memory!

Now after having to stare at those curtains for awhile I decided it was time to do something about them. I hummed and haaaaed over what to do. The spare room has zero pattern to it... it has super pale green walls a brown suede duvet cover and a super huge brown desk...

I didn't want to bring in too much new colour or too much pattern for fear of making it look old ladyish like the old curtains. Then as I was sitting here this morning while Norah napped I had an idea! Remember this material from the curtains and pillows in the living room??

See the curtains here in this super old photo.

Here is a more recent photo.
WELL I realized a few weeks ago that I need to make new pillow covers for the ones in the living room because I didn't make them removable. And the pillow cases are dirty!! I'm not about to remove them to wash them and then have to resew them back on. Instead I plan on making removable ones this time in a different material. I have an awesome idea in mind for the new pillow covers too! Oops getting side tracked! Anyway, since I'm planning on making new pillow covers I thought hmmmmm maybe new curtains for the living room as well. That's when it dawned on me... why not move the living room curtains into the spare room since the windows are identical sizes!!

Low and behold success!!!

They look sooo much better than the ugly flowery blue ones!!! (ignore the packages behind the bed... that's the under padding for the new flooring and the carpet... we'll get to that eventually!)

SO now that I switched that up I needed new curtains for the living room... I decided I wanted something light and airy. Our living room is so dark and every morning part of my morning tasks is to open the curtains to let the light in. I decided I wanted a very light weight curtain but I didn't want people to be able to see in. Off to Ikea Norah and I went and found the perfect solution. Meet Matilda and Wilma. Matilda is a sheer curtain with embroidered strips and little knots while Wilma is just a plain sheer curtain. The 2 put together made a nice light airy curtain that you can't see through but that lets the light through. The best part was that Matilda was only $19.99 and Wilma was just $16.99. So for a wonderful $40 I had new curtains that I wouldn't have to sew!!!!! YEAH!!!!!

I got home and realized I wouldn't have to attach Matilda to Wilma because of the way the hanging tabs ran. They were in the right spots to just hang both on the same curtain rod... BONUS!!! Then all I had to do was hem the bottom. If you have ever bought Ikea curtains you know they come with hem tape so no sewing was required. While Norah napped I managed to hem all 4 curtains and get them hung. I couldn't be happier with the result!!! I had difficulties taking a picture... I can't figure out the settings on my camera. But you get the idea.

See how bright it is now... I couldn't even get a good picture of the curtains!! (Can you spot Norah sucking her feet???)

Window Treatment

Last weekend I pulled out my trusty hem tape and the material I bought soooo long ago for the curtains in the kitchen and set to work making a valance for the window in the kitchen. Remember this poor lonely window that looks out on the backyard?

Well it was look a little bit pathetic and left out of the new kitchen reno so I decided it was time to make something pretty to spice it up. I had just bought a new roll of hem tape and had picked up a different brand thinking meh they are all the same. BIG mistake!!!! Apparently the brand I picked up this time (from Walmart) only works with the iron set to SUPER STEAMY. Alas my iron is old and does not cooperate very well on steam... in fact the water boils inside and then starts to bubble out of the steam holes getting the material and everything around wet! VERY annoying!!! BUT I was being stubborn and determined to get this curtain done so I worked around my irons inabilities. And within an hour I had this lovely little valance hanging in the window. I opted for a super short valance because now I have JUST enough fabric left over to make long curtains for the big window in the kitchen!

Isn't it cute!!

I'm off work tomorrow which is VERY exciting for me because I've had a crazy exhausting week and I plan on getting a bunch of Christmas crafts out of the way tomorrow!! I may even share a few with you next week. This weekend = installing heated flooring in the basement bathroom and dry packing the shower floor and possibly taping and mudding the drywall... Not sure how much we'll get accomplished this weekend.

Crib Skirt and Curtains

Last week Ryan and I made a trip to Fabricland to check out fabrics to make a crib skirt for the nursery. We want to hide what is being stored underneath the crib since there is so much storage room under there. The original plan was to get a white patterned or embossed fabric to not add too much more colour into the room since there is a lot of colours going on... BUT then we came across this lovely fabric at a whopping $5 a metre!!!!! It was just too perfect to turn down! The green matches perfectly and it brings pink into the room (Since we're having a little girl) without overpowering the room in colour!!! Our daughter will 100% know her colours after living in her room for a little while!!! :-)

So I took about an hour to throw together a crib skirt! I cut the pieces the size I needed (allowing for an inch seam on each side). I pulled out my trusty hem tape (to see how to use hem tape for a no-sew option view my blog post on curtains here ) and ironed the seams. Then it was time to figure out how to attach the skirt to the mattress spring. At first I wanted to use Velcro... but alas I had run out of Velcro and was REALLY excited to get this project done. So out came the ribbon!! I have soooo much ribbon its ridiculous so this was a great time to put some of it to good use!! Using a needle and thread, I tacked a piece of ribbon every 8 inches or so on the top of the skirt. I could have used the sewing machine to attach them but I was watching a movie so I didn't mind doing it by hand. I then tied the ribbon to the mattress spring and TAH DA! Instant crib skirt!

Ryan and I both love the final result as it fits in with the room perfectly!! Plus it only cost us $7.50 for the material since we had everything else on hand. AND we still have about half a metre of material left for other projects!! I looked into buying a crib skirt and you can't just get the skirt... it comes with the bumper pads which you aren't supposed to put in a crib anymore... so why do they continue selling them??? Doesn't make sense to me! Anyway, those together are expensive!! I figure I just saved us a good $60-$80!!!

Now onto the curtains for the baby room! I had been planning on making curtains BUT while perusing the Sears website I came across the PERFECT Roman shades for only $19.99!! I knew I had wanted Roman Shades but had never made them before and after finding them for $19.99 I figured it was one thing that I could just buy instead of making. Sometimes it costs less in time to just buy things. Anyway, I decided on these lovely Roman Shades. We still have the PVC plain white blinds behind the shades for extra darkening. Plus these shades aren't darkening shades as we didn't want our little blueberry to only be able to sleep in the dark... she needs to learn to sleep all the time and to distinguish between day and night. So we opted for these.

Ok I MAY have been too excited after I hung them to notice that they need a little ironing!! haahaa!! Here is a close up of the fabric. It works sooo well with the room! We went with white to just tame down the colours we have going everywhere. I love them!!!

That's it for projects for now!! I'm halfway there in my pregnancy.. only 20 weeks to go!!! Lots of time to finish the last 3 projects in the nursery, the rad box, a shelf and our wall decal animals!!!! Mind you the basement bathroom has to be finished in 20 weeks too!! AHHHH!!!!

LOVE IT TUESDAY - Paint your own fabric

I have been searching for the perfect material for curtains in our 3rd bedroom and I have a colour scheme in mind BUT they don't seem to make a fabric that has those colours in it. (PS I'm being lazy and don't want to repaint the room so I'm trying to tie too many colours together). ANYWAY, I came across an idea on HGTV.ca for stamping napkins and table runners. Check it out here. Instead of making napkins and table runners I could buy white fabric for curtains and just stamp in shapes (or stripes) in the colours that I want using fabric paint. This would be perfect!!!! I even have a large selection of stamps that I could use!!! Now if I only had the time for my million projects I would LOVE to do!!!! Oh well.... eventually it will happen!!!! I promise to show you how it turns out!!

FABULOUS CURTAINS!!!

For the past month I have been scouring around looking for the perfect fabric for our living room curtains. Our living room walls are Behr Cabbage Green paint which is fairly bright. But we have toned down the brightness with dark furniture and medium brown flooring. I had temporarily put dark brown Ikea curtains on the windows but hated them. It was too dark and since we don't get a lot of sunlight in the living room I really wanted to find something to lighten the whole room up. WELL I was VERY successful this week. I found a fabric that I thought would be PERFECT but was sorely disappointed to find that it was $35 per yard!! AHHHH that's outrageous! SO I went on a serious hunt and on Wednesday I found it. I wasn't entirely sure how it would turn out but for a measly $4 per metre (at Fabricland) it was a steal!! I bought 6 metres just to be safe, plus I want to make pillows to tie the entire room together. Doesn't it blend the colours of my walls and floor perfectly as well as adding in a little zing with the blue stripe??

For those of you who know me well you know I love to sew but at the same time I get lazy and sewing straight lines bugs me. SOO I went the easy way out and used hem tape for the sides and bottom hem of my curtains and am VERY happy with the result. Here is what I did.

First I measured my window, then added 1inch for the bottom hem and 5 inches at the top for the top hem, I wanted a big fat top hem. Next I lay out my material on my living room floor and measured (twice) how long I wanted the material. Then to make sure I cut it evenly I lay it next to my area rug and cut along the edge of the rug so I had a nice even piece of fabric.

Then I got out my trusty hem tape. I was lucky with my window because the fabric I got was the perfect width so I didn't have to cut it and could use the finished edges on either side. But I still had to hem them in an inch. I first ironed the sides of my soon to be curtain an inch in. Since I was dealing with stripes it was very easy to keep things even, I didn't even have to pull out my ruler!!

After I had the edge ironed I took out my hem tape and put it in the fold and pressed with the iron for a few seconds. VOILA, instant hem!! Make sure to get an extra strong hem tape, some of the cheaper tapes end up coming loose after a period of time.

I completed that on the 2 side edges of both of the 2 curtain panels. Then I did the same on the top edge of both panels. Always leave the bottom hem to the very end because if you make a mistake with the top edge you can always make up for it in the bottom hem. After hemming the top down an inch it was time to make the rod pocket. I folded the material down about 4 inches and ironed the material to make it easier to sew.

Then I pulled out my wonderful sewing machine and making sure the seam was even I sewed the material in place. To make sure I was sewing even I put a piece of tape on the sewing machine so I knew where the edge of the material had to be.

I did this on both panels and then it was time to hem the bottom. I pulled out my hem tape and did the exact same thing I did on the side edges. The only extra step I did was after the first panel was finished I lay the second panel on top of it and made sure the second panel would be the exact same length as the first panel. Then I ironed the hem away and hung my curtains. Ryan walked into the room at this point and was amazed!! He was a little skeptical about the material I was using but LOVES the end result!!! What do you think??