This project began as simply an ideal: I got a sewing machine (thanks Mama Allan) and a serger (thanks Mommy) for Christmas, so now I should make curtains because that would put both to good use (and using new technology/toys is always fun!)
Ideals deviate significantly from reality. Babies, especially, aren't necessarily conducive to sewing curtains. But the biggest obstacles were know-how, cost, and... um... other projects (I've always got loads of them. That's the part where I bite off more than I can chew pretty much all the time). If you want the long, interesting (though not necessarily, if you don't enjoy this sort of thing) saga of curtain production, read on. If not, skip through and look at pictures then comment and tell me how proud you are! j/k. well, sort of. I'd love your comments, but you are not obliged to compliment me if you think these stink. Don't tell me if that is the case, because I don't want to hear anything to deflate my sense of accomplishment! :)
Know-how:
I checked out books on sergers and read until I could TELL you all about what I needed to do to run my machine (though I didn't actually DO any of that until May. I was just plain scared of the thing.) I looked at curtains on line, price checked and double price checked, looked at window treatment design books from the library... until... I finally settled upon grommet curtains. It seemed like a design I could pull off in a modern style that I really like. Simple and sleek. No frills.
One of the books I had (still have, actually. I've renewed it every month since January! Good thing no one else wants to sew curtains in Upper Arlington's library district!) teaches how to make them using step by step photos. I cannot stress enough how invaluable this
book was. So, from reading, I took measurements and figured out how much fabric I needed, grommet tape, rings, etc, etc.
Cost:This is when cost really became a contributing factor. Despite what you might think, it is NOT cheaper to make curtains than to buy them. But, you can get cooler fabrics and customize. (It
is cheaper to customize your own curtains than to pay someone else to do a custom order for you.) But if you just want normal, solid color curtains, you can get them for about 1/4 the cost of making them yourself. Just so you know. Eric and I chalked the cost up to "education" in addition to "home decor" since I would be learning some serious sewing skills. (Which I definitely did.) But still, I felt bad spending too much on really cute home decor fabric. So I kinda browsed and browsed, but waited til it went 50% off at Joann's Memorial Day sale. Even with the sale, in order to fit it in a semblance of budget, I couldn't get any of the really pretty stripey patterns that I had been drooling over for months. Instead I made a compromise which ended up adding a stylish design element. I got a small amount of trendy stripes for an accent, but the bulk of the curtains would be a solid blue. Ordering the fabric was an adventure in itself thanks to the less-than-computer-savvy-sweet-grandma who was putting it in for me. There's a story there about an extremely tired baby who whined and fussed pitifully for the hour it took to place the order. I'll spare you any further, excruciating details.
Other Projects:Other projects interrupted my progress at this point. Garden. Gifts for friends. High chair. Book shelf. Canning. Reading... So many delightful interruptions! I think, deep down, I was grateful for the excuses and postponement. Despite the reading, I was still thoroughly scared to start cutting. What if I messed up? I knew how much that material cost...
I mentioned these fears to Eric about a week ago. He said, "Of course you're going to mess up. This is your first time. Don't worry about it. Making mistakes is part of the learning process. Nobody will care if they aren't perfect, except maybe you. In fact, probably no one will ever know." Well. Huh. I guess I am a worrier. Have I mentioned before how perfectly Eric balances out my imperfections? I love him so much. Eric's encouragement gave me the motivation to dive in, mistakes and all.
Jumping in:I started cutting on Monday. Since my sewing station/craft desk is upstairs in Gwen's room, I couldn't get much done. Eric was on call on Tuesday night. Gone til 11:00. Before I put Gwen down, I lugged my cutting mat, rotary blade, serger, sewing machine, etc down to the kitchen table and...
WENT TO TOWN!!!
Honestly, the hardest part was dealing with the massive amounts of fabric. I'm just not used to that. I've only ever sewn quilt squares and small things like a crib skirt or a valance. The bulk made EVERYTHING more challenging: measuring (who has a ruler long enough for projects like this!), cutting (my mat didn't even come close to being long enough), ironing (how do you iron one half without wrinkling the other half?), and- of course- sewing (the bulk was so heavy and thick it kept falling off the table if I didn't use one hand to hold it up. How does one normally sew these things? Seriously... ) I'm curious. Anyone have any tips for any of the above issues? Not that I plan to make more curtains any time soon, but just for knowing's sake.
Last night I finished hemming the edges, cut out the grommet tape, inserted the grommets, ironed everything, installed the curtain rod hardware, and put up the curtain.
Project complete! Yippee! A project 7 months in the making. Finished.
P.S.
(To complete the new "look" for our living room, I was inspired to make matching pillow accents to tie in the blue (to an otherwise mostly cream and brown room)... and commissioned our quilting/sewing club to help me! I haven't made the pillows and table runner yet, but they will be some time this year (after I finish other projects in the wings).)
Justin and Brianna brought their Dominican Republic expertise to the table with a light cabbage salad and some fried plantains.
Jamie and Trent brought the most delicious coriander flavored rice stuffed avocados for a lovely side dish.
Eric and I prepared some grilled halibut with a spicy orange sauce.
We enjoyed the choice of non-alcoholic pina colada (which was definitely more pina than colada) or fresh limeade with key limes.
And what could be more refreshing than the fresh bananas, pineapple, and mangos with frozen yogurt that Linzi and Mike prepared?
On a more tragic note: we lost 3 of our 6 zucchini squash plants almost over night because of squash vine borers. A fourth is in critical condition after undergoing intensive surgery. Inexperienced physician-- me. Eric keeps teasing about a malpractice lawsuit if the plant doesn't recover. Well, I was willing to try anything. Those nasty lil vine borers took our other 3 plants so quickly, I felt helpless so see them go from lush and fruitful to yellow and flopped on the soil within 24 hours. And with this 4th plant, as soon as I saw the entry hole with sick worm excrement leaking out of it I knew we would lose it too if I didn't do something. 
