a shine machine

08 August 2011

pillow case curtain DIY

When I am hit with inspiration, I like to execute a project right way. With that being said, the second I decided that I wanted to make curtains, I had to do it, right then.

I got my scissors, my sewing machine, and measuring tape ready when I remembered that I had NO sheets of fabric at my house.

(a lot of my craft stuff is being stored at my parent's house right now as I turn my studio space into a nursery)

This was a problem.

Since I knew I had to make the curtains right that second, I had to come up with a solution.

I didn't have fabric but what I did have was two vintage pillowcases.

That is the only fabric that I had in the whole house!! I decided to do some brainstorming and eventually came up with tutorial for myself :)

2 pillowcases=1 curtain.

In less than an hour!

Here we go!!

Materials Needed:

* 2 pillowcases of choice

* fabric shears

* sewing machine

*curtain rod

* spool of lace/ribbon/rick rack

* measuring tape

Note: I measured my window, which was 24x60 and decided that an "open" pillow case was just about double my width so it was perfect.

This probably wouldn't work well for a window much wider than that.

Here are the steps:

1. Choose two coordinating pillowcases

2. At the opening of each pillowcase, make a small cut on the seam and rip upwards to open up your pillowcases. You will also need to do this with bottom edge. Now your pillow case should look like this:

Notice the folded over edge at the top which is open on each end and ready for a curtain rod to go through? Nice!

3. Lay your pillowcase on top of each other with right sides facing in. Make sure that your folded edges match up.

4. Sew the bottom edge (opposite of the folded edge) together to create one long panel of fabric.

5. Your panel now has a crazy seem right smack dab in the middle :) While I was doing this I remembered something that I read in a book once about The Great Depression :) During the Great Depression people couldn't afford new dresses when they grew so they added a panel of fabric to the bottom. To cover that ugly seam, they would usually sew a piece of lace or rick-rack over the seam so it conspicuously looked like a new/longer dress.

(Thank you Kit Kittridge of the American Girls series)

I chose a spool of vintage lace...

6. and sewed it right on top of that seam...

7. Next I folded and pressed each raw side of my curtain at about 1/4 of an inch and sewed those down. Make sure to leave your already made curtain rod sleeve open at the top. The bottom of your curtain doesn't need to be hemmed either because it's already folded and sewed too from when it was a pillow! Score!

8. Now that all of your raw edges are nice and clean and your middle seam is covered with something pretty, you are ready to slip your curtain rod in and hang your new curtain!!

So quick and sooooo easy to make! Plus, you don't have to go out and buy any materials for this at all! I really like the way it turned out and it made me really happy to throw those ugly blinds away that were hanging in there.

Today, I am going to work in my classroom and then hit up a fabric store so that I can buy more terry cloth so I can make some BIBS!!

yay!

janel

07 August 2011

nursery news...

After some serious furniture rearranging, Adam and I finally found a place to put our baby's changing table/dresser. Now that we had the room, we put it together!

I think it turned out really great, I love the modern look to it.

It is exactly what we were looking for.

With each little piece of furniture I add some decor on the walls too :)

Obviously the printer isn't going to stay there. For now, we have to work with what we have you know!

Today, I got really adventurous and made curtains for the little one's room.

That may not sound super adventurous to you all but I had NO fabric at my house. (We are storing a lot of stuff at my parent's house to make room for the nursery until we move). I had to use what I had on hand, use some out-of-the-box thinking skills and I must say, I really like the way they look!

I will post a little tutorial on how I made them tomorrow with photos of course.

Make sure to check back!!

janel

06 August 2011

red hearts

Well, today I was able to check some more things off of my DIY to-do list :)

As I mentioned before, I really wanted to start sewing up burp cloths with some of my vintage sheet stash.

Well...I did!

My dad had told me that he found a nice, big, self-healing cutting mat at a garage sale today and I figured that was my cue to bring over a sewing a project :)

While I was cutting sheets and terry cloth, my dad was embroidering little hearts on ribbon for a cute little personalized tag (totally his idea too).

Here are some photos of our progress:

And here are some photos of the ADORABLE burp cloths all finished up :)

They are so cute that I can't believe the purpose that they will serve one day involves spit up.

With the sheet of terry cloth that I had, I was able to make 10 of these today. I could not be happier with the way they turned out. I must say that my dad's little tags are by far my favorite part though :) Plus I love that it was something that we did together.

Seriously friends, these were so quick and easy and cute. I think that a few of these would make a really cute personalized shower gift for a friend a just a fun little sewing project for yourself.

Either way, I can't stop staring at them!

Check back tomorrow for another little nursery peek!

night!

janel

This time last year...

I like looking back in my iPhoto and seeing what I was up to a year before, or two years before in the same month. Does anyone else do this?

good times.

janel

05 August 2011

oh my golly!

(image)

I seriously think that this may have been the longest that I have ever gone without blogging!! I was having some serious withdrawals :)

Where have I been?

Taking care of business my friends, that's where!

When I haven't been getting ready for the new school year, and decorating a nursery, I have been working on creating Adam and I's Adoption Profile Book.

An Adoption Profile Book is a scrapbook of sorts that is given to expecting parents who are considering an adoption plan for their child.

With most domestic adoptions you need to provide your adoption facilitator with a Profile they can show to birthparents. The birthparents then use these so that they can select a forever family for their baby.

Enough pressure to make this amazing??

I searched through many examples and they were great but looked very "cookie-cutter" which isn't really my style. Now, do I go with cookie cutter? or do I go with Janel and Adam?

I decided to go with what we like, since this book is supposed to represent us.

Here is the cover: