maddyanne designs

Another post over on the old blog:

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So it’s been a while since I’ve posted, but that’s because I’ve been so busy at home making curtains!  I went into this project expecting to be finished in a day.  Ha!  As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not exactly the best sewer, but now I’m a sewing machine (get it?).  A while back I pinnedthese awesome curtains on Pinterest.  I’ve had my eye on chevron curtains for a while, and I finally built up the courage to make them myself.  I found this light blue and natural chevron:

And this super mod yellow damask:

I ordered 15 yards of the chevron for about $7.50 a yard (I ended up splitting the fabric down the middle for the two small windows so I actually have 5 extra yards) and 2 yards of the damask for about $8.50 a yard.  When I viewed my shopping cart I was a bit bummed out (at least shipping was free since the order was over $35), but after some quick Googling, I found a 15% off coupon bringing the grand total to $109 and some change.  Still a lot, but better than the $200+ for one pair of panels.

I also picked up some matching thread and ribbon (will explain later) from Hobby Lobby.  As for the curtain rods, I was given some very nice ones when I worked at a fabric store a while back.  They were on clearance and my manager got tired of the clutter in the store and let each employee pick out ten items each!  I went for these sunflower finials and rod set by Menagerie.  The problem was one rod was too short for my larger window.  After years of them sitting in my closet, I finally decided that I didn’t need them to match perfectly.  A quick trip to Lowes and nine bucks later and I had a dowel cut to the right length.  I doesn’t have the same grooves in it that the other rod does, but I spray painted everything a nice ORB (yup, busted out the oil-rubbed-bronze that Young House Love subliminally embedded in my mind).

But back to the curtains, I basically just ironed a hem on all the edges, and a thicker hem on the bottom.

The top hem was a little different. I’m not a fan of the gathered curtains and wanted something a little different than clip-on rings.  I decided to go for the hidden tab look like the curtains in my bedroom.  Here’s where the ribbon comes into play.  After ironing a three inch hem on the top, I cut five strips of ribbon and ironed them into 3 1/2 inch strips.

Then I pinned them across the top letting them bunch up in the center for breathing room once they’re on the rod.

And here’s what they look like after they’re sewn and nice and trimmed up.

You can see when they’re hung they create this nice, almost pleated effect.  Neat and crisp, in my opinion.

Here’s a close up of the finials I’m just in love with and so excited to finally use!  They’re blooming sunflowers…just a little happy detail. :)

Just for laughs, here’s the before picture I captured a few months ago.

And here’s the progress so far:

I admit, not a lot’s changed.  But it’s a great start! The little amount of color we’ve added has gone a long way.

Oh and so far the yellow fabric has only gone to a pair of pillows on our couch.

In addition to the two pairs of curtains in the living room, I made one big curtain for our sliding glass door, complete with grommets, and a small pair for over our kitchen sink (will take pictures).

As for the budget…

Budget Breakdown:

Fabric (we only ended up using about 10 yards plus 15% off coupon and free shipping) – 63.75
Thread – $2.79
Ribbon – $1.99
Spray paint for curtain rods – about $6.00
Dowel for curtain rod – about $9.00

Grand Total – $83.53

Not bad considering we got four sets of curtains out of it!  There’s still plenty to do in the living room.  I’ll probably post about some ideas pretty soon, but for now we’re just loving our new curtains.  Even little improvements make the biggest impact! If anyone has DIY stories, I’d love to hear them!