Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Let's Talk Curtains

Kitchen Curtain

This is the first of potentially three curtains I could make for the kitchen. I went to Michael Levine's downtown in search of just the right curtain fabric. After hours of wandering around with my paint chip, I found dozens that were good; but narrowed it down to three I really liked. (And a few I might get at another time.) This one was Cliff's favorite. It's called  "Caitlin Blooms" by Alexander Henry

( This is totally off topic, but I see the floor mat in the picture and want to mention that it is a totally cushy knock off of those gel chef mats. I got it at Home Depot for a song and it feels so good! Now back to regularly scheduled programing.)

I made up the faux Roman shade as I went along. Basically, I made a big rectangle with a lining. Next I folded the fabric while lying on the floor to look like a Roman shade and pinned everything in place. Then I top stitched across the curtain to secure the folds. I am sure those directions are about as clear as mud.

Anyway, I am not totally in love. I like the scale and print. I like that it injects bright colors into the room.  But I miss having red.

Just for fun I pinned up the other fabrics for you to see and weigh in on.

First up is the red print I brought home. It is called "Panache" by Sanae for Moda.
It is the right scale, has red, white, brown and blue, which I really like. Alas, I have to agree with Cliff, the red is just too dark next to the brown. I have been thinking of adding a very tailored white edge all the way around the edge to make it pop more from the wall. If I do that, I might stretch and actually make a real working Roman shade.

The last fabric I brought home is so pretty in person. It has all the right colors and a nice light background.

But as you can see, when it's on the wall, the print is just lost against the bold brown. I wish I could enlarge this very print. That would be *perfect*.  No worries, I am sure I can come up with lots of great things to make from the extra fabric.

Just for fun, I thought I'd share this curtain rod hack. I had this tiny rod that matched the hinges on our cabinets perfectly, but it was too short. So I took some bamboo garden stakes I had and some Gorilla Tape and jerry rigged a longer rod.

Who wants to buy a new curtain rod at Christmas time? Make do, I say!

4 comments:

Nutsy Coco said...

I really like your idea of a border around the red. It is a bit much directly next to the brown but I think it would great with a border. Good luck deciding!

Unknown said...

I'm with Cliff--of the three, the green stands out the most. It's pretty!

Anonymous said...

cute color!

Unknown said...

The curtains looks so feminine and very earth-friendly because of its colors and design. I think every kitchen with this kind of curtains will really make a kitchen look nice. As for me, my kitchen just look so simple and yet very clean. We installed great furniture and great brass tubing materials so that it will look more beautiful and my wife put flowers also so that it will have a sort of a feminine touch.