Curtains for Mrs. Ebersole

Window Treatments for a Lovely Home

Photo credit: Sheri Denlinger

I recently stitched these curtains for a customer and absolutely love the photos she was able to take of them....

Photo credit: Sheri Denlinger

Photo credit: Sheri Denlinger

Photo credit: Sheri Denlinger

Photo credit: Sheri Denlinger

Photo credit: Sheri Denlinger

Photo credit: Sheri Denlinger

Another Project Finished!

I finally got back to mounting my freshly-painted living room curtain rods today.  I had taken the day off work last week to finish painting them (what a way to spend a vacation day!) since I never get around to this kind of stuff on the weekend, then needed to let them dry for a few days before mounting them.  Since it's been way too cold to be painting outside, I finished painting them with a brush and some leftover trim paint instead of spray painting them like I had intended.  I should have brush painted them instead of spray painting from the beginning - what a mess!  I ended up with a very fine mist of white paint dust all over the garage.  Thankfully it cleaned up fine.  Those do-it-yourselfers may sing the praises of spray paint, but I have yet to be convinced - I always end up with more paint everywhere else (sorry, atmosphere!) than I do on the item I'm trying to paint.  Even my nostril hairs were white at the end of the day; I hate to think how much paint I ingested - ugh!!

I like how they match instead of contrasting with the crown moulding,

and also like how they tie in with the office curtain rods now. 

I could have bought new rods for the living room, but figured it would be cheaper (and hopefully greener) to repaint them.  (I had gotten the office rods and rings for a steal of a deal - 90% off at Sears back when I made the curtains, and have always felt the mismatched look of the rings and rods was worth it - they didn't have any white rings left, so I settled for the pale green, but I'm happy with the look.)

Anyway, glad to cross this project off the to-do list!

Fabulous Roman Shades

I just wrapped up a curtain project today for a kindred spirit couple referred to me by another customer.  This couple bought a lovely house in Lancaster and have slowly been turning it into a home that reflects their taste and style.  It's such a beautiful place; you can feel the many years of love and memories that have been poured into the house from the moment you walk in the door.  The paint and fabrics coordinate beautifully, and all the rooms flow together so nicely.

Since it's an older home, it has the typical picture windows of that era.  The dilemma - what type of window treatment can you do other than those traditional pinched-pleated drapes of yesteryear??  We debated and debated, but finally decided on my all-time favorite window treatment for both windows- Roman Shades.  They're so versatile!

In dining room above, we used a wonderful embroidered fabric to create a stationary shade.  Believe it or not, the window treatment is simply a rectangular piece of fabric that is pleated, stapled to the mounting board, then strung up.  (Of course, there's a little more to it than that, but I won't get into that!)  I interlined the silk-like fabric with flannel interlining to give it a softer drape. The nice thing about a Roman shade is that we could mount it, then pull up the shade to whatever length we preferred.

In the living room, I mimicked the style of the dining room shade, but the sheer fabric gives it a totally different look!  The pleats aren't quite as deep and I didn't do the jabot effect on the sides, but it still complements the adjoining dining room shade nicely.  I love the fabric we used; since it's almost impossible to find cotton sheer fabric at an affordable price, we used two pairs of 100% curtain panels from IKEA which were very economical.  The fabric has a slight windowpane slub weave to it, giving it a whimsy feel; it drapes beautifully, and gives the room a much less fussy feel than polyester would.  The shade can be lowered when more privacy is desired, or raised to let more sunlight in.  We slightly puddled the curtain panels that flank the shade to give the room a more casual feel.  (It's also easier on the seamstress - it 's so difficult to get panels to hang at an exact length!)

I stitched "goblet pleats" in the panels; again, a less dated look than those stiff pinch pleats that were part of every drapery panel you used to see. 

A few tacking stitches helps them stay open.



Doesn't it look inviting from the outside?! I'm always interested in what the outside view will look like, sometimes even more so than the inside view. The strings and rings blend into the design of the fabric, making them almost invisible to the non-seamstress eye.

Believe me, there are a multitude of things that can go wrong when you're doing a project of this size, but amazingly enough, that didn't happen on this job. Leesa was patient with me as I deliberated over the design and was willing to wait for my mental block to recede (those mental blocks are a pain in the butt!); Brendon was so helpful with the tedious mounting work.  It was a wonderful final job to wrap up this season of self-employment as I return to full-time work next week.

Thanks, Leesa and Brendan - I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you throughout this project!!

Job Completed!

I just installed these curtains today; it feels good to finish up such a big project!  Actually, the sewing wasn't difficult, but since the window was so big, the cornice board was 96 1/2" long - practically the full length of my living room; it barely fits in a vehicle!  I was eager to get it out of my house so I could have my living room back.  The customer asked me to simply duplicate her existing window treatment in coordinating fabrics to match her new sofa and pillows since she was so happy with the design of the original cornice, swags and jabots.  The burgundy fabric is 100% silk, so I lined it with cotton interlining to give it a bit of body and a soft drape.

Here's the before picture:

It's tricky taking pictures of window treatments, especially in the winter; the sun reflects on the snow and makes it that much more difficult to get enough light inside without the flash washing out the color.  I always try to get a picture so I can refer back to it if necessary.

Decorator Sewing

 Shirred Valance



Roman Shades on French Doors

Decorator Sewing

Swags and jabots mounted on a board are such a classic window treatment - they never fail to please a customer!

Roman  Shade for the adjacent bath in matching fabric.

New Living Room Curtains

I finally have vacation time to use for something other than medical appointments, so today I took the day off (the first possible day in 2009!) to sew some more curtains for myself.

I was so pleased with how the silk panels turned out for my office that I decided to do the same window treatment in the living room, only with another color of silk.  This gives a nice uniform look to the front of the house.  Again, I allowed them to puddle on the floor to avoid the tedious process of making sure the length is precise.  I hand tacked a strip of floral fabric along the side hems to give the appearance of another layer of curtain underneath.  I'm not completely satisfied with the sheer Roman Shades - I couldn't find sheer fabric in 100% cotton, so I settled for a polyester; it just doesn't drape well.  But for now they'll do, especially since the fabric was only $3.00 per yard.  :)

Birthday Window Treatments

What better way to spend a birthday than stitching new kitchen curtains!

I was tickled to find this 100% silk fabric at the Calico Corners outlet in Lancaster for only $5.00 per yard!!  It was the perfect match for my kitchen wallpaper, and coordinates nicely with the new laundry room paint.  There was just enough to do three Roman Shades.  Silk is a wonderful fabric for window treatments - I love it!!  These are basically stationary Roman Shades.  They can raised and  lowered, but the pleated design makes it tricky to lower them, then get the folds back in place neatly, so I'm content to leave them be.

 

Decorator Sewing

Sheer Roman Shade with trim.