this is what crazy looks like

 

didn’t see that one coming, didja?

probably you expected “crazy” to be less curtain-y and more…

okay, so i don’t know how to draw crazy. thankfully this is my blog, not the World Pictionary Championships.
cause if it was, and you were on my team, you’d probably be all cursing wiggly arm person! drunk person with head on fire! zombie girl in the snow! GAH! what iiiis it???? and i’d be like uhhh NO! can’t you tell crazy when you see it? i would never wear an a-line shift dress with a shape like this! that’s CRAZY!

(and do they even have World Pictionary Championships? because if they do i’m totally there)

but really, truly—i thought i may just lose my mind making these curtains. why?

because this is where i started:



one flat gray sheet, one flat white sheet, both twin size.

(or, actually, one fitted gray sheet because i grabbed the wrong one and didn’t realize it until i took this picture. boo.)

i whined about discussed my troubles finding reasonably priced gray and white striped curtains for the family room.
i was seriously considering the tape and paint solution that most people out there on the interwebs have used. but in the end even the $20-$40 that would have cost me proved too heavy for my pocketbook.
my final solution was simple: two $5 sheets from walmart, cut into strips and sewn back together.

4 curtain panels for $10.
it doesn’t get much easier or cheaper than that. straight lines all the way.

i laid the sheets out together and folded them in half, pinning liberally to keep it all in place.



i measured my sheets/curtains and divided. i wanted 5” stripes, so i cut 6” strips, giving myself a 1/2” seam allowance on either side.



it wasn’t until after i cut all my strips that i realized the undertaking i had just…undertaken.



(16 strips per curtain x 2 sets of curtains) x 2 sides to each strip + 4 long edges to hem =
FOUR HOURS OF SEWING

FOUR hours of chug chug chugging on my machine in completely straight boring lines, nary a curve or dart in sight to break up the monotony.

in other news: why don’t sewing machines have cruise control?

i sewed my single strips into sets of two, and pressed them all—ironing some pellon on all the seams because i didn’t want to line them (i like the translucent look the cheap cotton has. i was actually looking for even cheaper curtains with a lower thread count)



then i sewed my twos into fours, pressed and pelloned.

the fours into eights, pressed and pelloned.

the eights into sixteens, pressed and pelloned.

the two big sixteens into four big sixteens, pressed and hemmed.

after four hours i had four curtains.

ahhh the troubles i have. #firstworldproblems, anyone?

and then we decided they were too white.



the chair fabric going in front of the windows is more off white than crisp white.

enter the tea dye.



we did a test swatch:



and it was approved. not too different—just a subtle color change. so we moved on to the big tea bath.




and then they got rinsed in the washer, and hung to dry.



when i realized i had to iron them. again.
well, let’s just say it wasn’t pretty…

but you know? i kinda want to marry them (sorry babe)





not that i’m ready to do it again any time soon. but these curtains were kind of like having a baby…they’re so pretty to look at, i’m starting to forget the pain.



 

they are NOT, however, easy to photograph. i got a lot of this:



which is dramatic and all…but not too helpful for actually showing the curtains. nevermind the imp hiding in the lower right corner.

eventually two chairs in our accent fabric will be in front of these windows. but for now it’s a good spot for our stuffed animal chairs to live.






comfy and just right for enjoying a favorite book.

can i just say it again—4 curtains, $10. TEN DOLLARS.
can’t beat that. not with a stick.

linking up here:
http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/

http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/