Curtains! Part 1

I took vacation last week, and went back home to Memphis. I love being at home with my family, eating, laughing, watching movies, and not least of all, getting my Mom's help on decorating my house.

I've mentioned before my Mom's role in my decorating obsession, and this past week was no exception. I have been in desperate need for new curtains in my bedroom. My original curtains were 108" Faux Silk curtains in Ivory from Chris Madden's JC Penny line ( minus the swag- totally not my style). While a lovely temporary solution, they did nothing to keep at bay the drafts coming in from my 80 year old windows.

So I begged, pleaded, and groveled. And, at length, my Mom agreed to help me make lined drapes.

First, she picked out the fabric, which was a nice white linen weave with a thick cross weave pattern from a store in Memphis called Johnson's Fabrics ( love it! 10 yds @ 16.95 a yard). I decided I wanted white white drapes to go against my robin's egg blue walls.

Then, we set up an old ping pong table in our garage ( we are scrappy decorators), wrapped the tables in old comforters, and got to work.



Using a meter stick, we measured out the drapes to 112' panels ( for a total finished length of 104" with a 4 inch hem at each end.

Then we needed to cut out 4 panels. My mom and grandmother, being the smart women that they are, taught me a little trick. If you pull ONE thread from the edge of the fabric and carefully guide it along the width, you can make a straight cut across! How cool!

To be continued..