Sunday, February 7, 2010

The Curtains???

One of my favorite scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail is when the king is up in the Prince's room and they're looking out the window, and the king said, "One day all of this will be yours." and the prince said, "The curtains?" and the king said something like, "No you idiot, the kingdom." and the prince said, "I don't want to be king... I want to SING!" and then started singing and the king got exasperated and something else happened and the prince ends up falling out of the window. Anyway, I have always loved the part where the prince said "The curtains?" in an English accent, and I can't say those two words together without doing it just like that. Ever. So here is how I made the curtains? for our bedroom:


It all started a few weeks ago when I bought some curtains that were on sale, and upon bringing them home realized that I didn't actually want to spend that much. So I returned them and went in search of a suitable alternative. I found a duvet cover that was just the ticket, because it was the same color as the ones I had purchased, and it also meant that I could make them look the way I want. It was tremendously simple because it was a twin size duvet cover, and was the perfect size to fit our window, and all I had to do was to cut it down the middle and sew up the seams. Then I folded the top part of each panel over by 5" and cut pieces of Pottery Barn ribbon that I had kept from some of our wedding gifts, and made little tabs to sew onto the back part of the curtains? like so:
I sewed a seam an inch from the top to form a ruffle while also catching the top of each tab.
Then I sewed a seam at the bottom to close the "flap" while also catching the bottom of each tab. This way there is the option to put the curtain rod through the flap or through the tabs, get it?
In this photo I have put the rod through the tabs, and it gives it a very nice gathering effect.

And this is what it looks like from the back.
And here is the window.
This is what our bedroom looked like when we moved in. We had curtains that were hand me downs, and served their purpose beautifully but totally clashed with everything. Always a very temporary fix. We took off the curtain track that was up there and put up a curtain rod that we got from Sam's sister when they were remodeling their home. We painted the rod white as well and installed it this past week.


Since we moved in we have painted the dressers and distressed them (there is one on the other side of the bed too), painted the wardrobe (the big thing in the right hand side of the picture) and painted the walls grey. I really am so happy with how it looks now with the curtains?!!!!
This is how the bedroom looked this morning after I finished and hung the curtains? I'm quite pleased. We plan on hanging pictures eventually, as soon as I bring some back with me after my trip home in March.

9 comments:

  1. I love the before and after pictures. You are so crafty! Have you thought about a career in interior design? Seriously, you have great taste!

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  2. What a nice compliment, you're so sweet:) Made my day with that!

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  3. Love the new look! Part of the "fun" of not having alot of extra money is that you have to use things you already have to make what you want (like the tabs from the PB ribbon!) Like the saying "Necessity is the mother of invention". Whenever we create we prove there is a Creator and it makes Him smile! MOM

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  4. Hey B - the curtains are fabulous. All your projects remind me of when we were in college and had ridiculous crafting nights together...so much fun...so much wine...=) Love you! Laura

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  5. wow, what a difference the paint makes! You are so smart! I love reading about what you are doing! And I totally agree with your mom- when I am creating, I am happiest and I think of how God is the master creator and how we are made in His image! So glad you took before pictures.

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  6. beautiful! I love how deep your window sill is. I've only managed to keep two house plants alive, wish we had a sunny spot like that!

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  7. That is far and away my favorite Monty Python moment too, haha. I hope to one day create the same type of moment in my life, but nobody has offered me anything big enough (with vague enough terms/gestures) to make it as awesome...

    The curtains look awesome by the way. And the paint job. You have the design eye, my friend, you have the design eye.

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  8. Hello Bethany - just copied and pasted your blog from UKhandmade as we both put our blogs for the blog page. Anyway thought I would stop by and say Hi. My daughters name is Bethany so we not only have that in common but if you visit my blog you will see I also up-cycled curtains for my bedroom after seeing the prices some shops charge. Anyway will add your blog to my list and visit your page often. Hope you like living in England.
    www.beverleylovestosew.blogspot.com

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