Here we go - Project #3! In case you missed the first two, you can check out her dresser here and her vanity here. After these two furniture projects I decided to put the paint brush down for a week and try my hand with fabric... lots and lots of fabric! That's right - it's curtain time!
Now, I've made countless sets of curtains in my time. Normally it wouldn't merit a post of its own, but these are no ordinary curtains. I suppose at the base they're just large rectangles of fabric with hemmed edges like all the others. But, these have ruffles! And I used 2 sewing machine feet/attachments that I never even knew existed!
When I found these curtains at Anthropologie...
and the corresponding dozens of tutorials to make the knockoffs, I knew doodle's room needed them... in pink! I promised to give her some pink in her room, and these should make a big splash. I found a lightweight apparel fabric in a cotton/poly blend at Joann's, and honestly it wasn't until I saw that it was called 'Daphne Mist' which sealed the deal for me. Then the deal was unsealed. Apparel fabric at Joann arrives at the warehouse and the stores in 8 yard bolts. I needed 27 yards total, and I needed 4 pieces at least 3.3 yards long (for the curtain panels), and 2 pieces 6.6 yard long (for the ruffles). I put 27 yards in my online shopping cart and then called customer service to verify that I wouldn't get anything smaller than 6.6 yards. The rep told me when I order online I'll get whatever fabric the warehouse hands touch first and it will add up to my total yardage. I could have very well received 27 pieces of 1 yard scraps because they take no responsibility and make no effort to get you fabric to meet your needs. "We don't do custom cuts."
So, I found the same fabric on Fabric.com for $2 less per yard, and they were able to send me one continuous 27 yard piece. I would do a full out boycott on Joann's if I had any other local options when I need something in a hurry. Honestly, the name Joann just has bad spirits surrounding it in my world anyway! Currently it's just a selective boycott because it takes about a week to receive my order from Fabric.com.
Just cutting this fabric felt like a workout. I put painters tape on the floor and marked my 3.3 yard length and 6.6 yard length and just rolled the fabric out to make my cuts. I don't advise doing this the same day your grass gets cut! I swept about 5 times before I let the fabric touch the floor. :)
Then I just buzzed through the hems to make 4 panels. I decided to hang these with curtain clips so I didn't bother with a rod pocket. That part was easy breezy.
The ruffles were uncharted territory. I tore my 6.6 yard lengths into strips 5.5" wide. I just folded the fabric width in half and made a snip and then ripped it along the grain. Then again and again until I had 12 strips of fabric that were 6.6 yards long. I assumed I'd leave the ruffles unfinished on the edges for that messy anthro look, but after consulting with my sewing whisperer Holly, I decided to play around with some options for the edges to prevent fraying. Honestly I'm not a serial curtain washer, but it's nice to have the option in a child's room for who knows what might end up on them.
I tried my overcast presser foot, and truth be told, I just couldn't figure out how to use it. LOL, NEXT!
So I moved on to my rolled hem foot. It was really tricky at first and took some practice, but what a life changing little tool! It gives such a professional finish, and for someone with beginner level sewing skills, I feel like it really elevated my status a bit. :) The finished edge made the ruffle much more feminine and prominent too! It's a different look than the original anthropologie curtains, but certainly a good deviation for my baby girl's room!
I watched several tutorials on using this foot on youtube, but it was the last one I watched, posted by BrianSews that really clicked for me. The fabric edge goes into the machine looking frayed and sad like this:
and it comes out magically on the other side looking like this:
Crazy right? Who knew there were such machine accessories! My mind started whirling with ideas of what I could roll-hem next! You better lock up any textiles of value - I'm comin' for them!
Like I said, this foot takes some understanding from a tutorial that clicks for you, and it takes some practice but once I got the hang of it I was zipping through these. I had a total of 24 runs to make - 12 pieces up both edges. That's 160 yards of edge processing - more than one and a half football fields through my sewing machine. :) After a while, I got my time down to about 20 minutes per strip when my bobbin thread was well stocked, and got them done fairly pain-free.
Next I got to play with my ruffler foot! It looks pretty intimidating, doesn't it? Right off the bat, I noticed a problem. There's a fabric guide on the right that leaves only a maximum 1-1/8" seam allowance because most people probably ruffle along the edge of their fabric. However, these curtains call for a ruffle right down the center, so I removed the guide. That was a little scary because the guide is also attached to another piece called the separator blade. That separator blade would be needed if I wanted to ruffle one piece of fabric and simultaneously attach it to another piece of fabric. It's not ideal to remove it, but it worked fine in my case because I was simply ruffling the strip. Maybe some day I'll be confident enough to ruffle and attach in one swoop!
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| The arrow is pointing out the guide I removed so I could sew down the middle |
After finagling with all the different settings, I got to the point where the finished ruffle was 1/2 the original fabric length which is exactly what i wanted. For anyone who stumbles on this and is attempting a 50% ratio, I ruffled every 6th stitch, with a depth of 8, and a short stitch setting - I think 1.5 or 1.8. Running it through was really easy, except the 12th of 12 ruffles which gave me all sorts of problems, but that's just how these projects go! Here's some of my experiments:
...and the winning ruffle settings I went with:
Then it was just a matter of attaching the ruffles to the panels. I laid the panel out on the trusty kitchen island and pinned 3 ruffles per panel into place. I had a hard time deciding whether to stick with just 2 ruffles like the anthropologie curtains, or use 3 per panel like I'd prepared. In the end, my ruffles have finished edges - anthro does not. My fabric is a bit more crisp than anthro's voile-like messy, semi-sheer fabric. So I figured if I'm going to hang in-your-face pink ruffled curtains, let there be lots of ruffles! Mom voted for 3 ruffles too, so she can't say I never listen to her. :)
I got through 2 finished panels and ran out of thread (again). I used a total of 3 spools of thread on this project! That's 600 yards!!!!
Ok, I don't know how to tell you this, but I'm not hanging these until the walls are painted and I move everything into her room, so you'll have to settle for seeing the finished product laying on the island. Sorry! I tried to bunch it up to simulate how it will hang. Here is one of the finished panels:
I kind of long for the messier, more sheer Anthro look, meaning I wish I hadn't finished the edges, and I wish I'd held out for a more sheer pink fabric, but Doodle loves them!!!
These curtains would be SO simple to make if you don't finish the ruffle edges like Anthro. In fact, Anthropologie should be ashamed of themselves for the $208 per panel pricetag for such simple curtains! Plus the longest length is 108" and I like mine a smidge longer. These would have cost me $832 plus tax for her room. I paid about $80 for the fabric, and $6 for thread, and I splurged $10 on the ruffler foot. The rolled hem foot came as an accessory with my sewing machine. And mine have finished edges and an extra ruffle!!!!! Tsk tsk tsk.
Well, I'm glad to have these done because Brent and I are taking a little kid-free vacation and we leave Saturday... our first in 5+ years! I needed closure on this project to be able to relax on our getaway. Though, you know my mind will be busy planning the next project. Stay tuned!
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