Using bed sheets to make curtains

We have lovely French doors that go from our kitchen to the back yard. They are lovely but cold in the winter, and terribly hot in the summer as they let all the hot afternoon sun into the kitchen. After living in this house for 11 years now, I finally decided to do something about covering the French doors...besides using white bath towels during the summer, that is.

Yes, very classy.

My main problem was that standard curtain rods are too long to fit over the windows. It appears the previous owners did not measure realize this, and they installed the hardware on the door before seeing that the rod would not fit. (This hardware is what we have been hanging towels on using safety pins, so it has not gone to waste.) Also, once you go beyond "standard," you tend to get into "decorative," and "decorative" = "expensive." I didn't want to spend much money on something that at least one child was bound to swing on at some point...hence, the towels.

Until last month, when I decided once and for all that I was going to cover those windows with something, even if it was a bed sheet or two, or three. I searched online at Target.com and found swivel sash rods that were short enough to cover each window area, and they were only $2.49! Whoo hoo!



I bought up two white flat sheets at Goodwill, along with a queen-sized light sage green flat sheet to help camouflage the slight differences in the white sheets as well as to block out more sun during the summer. (Incidentally, the two white flat sheets were different sizes--one a twin and one a double--which slightly bothered me but hasn't really made a difference...which was really good since I couldn't find any other gently used white flat sheets.)

The bottoms of both flat sheets became the "top" since they had identical bottoms for the curtain rod to go through. I cut the sage sheet in half, to use one half behind each of the white curtains. I hemmed the flat sheets to a good length, leaving the sage sheet about an inch shorter than the white sheets. If you would like detailed instructions on how to make curtains out of bed sheets, you can click here to read one method.

And, yes, Brenda, I finally used my sewing machine for this sewing project! Not too shabby stitching for someone who hasn't used a machine in more than 20 years. ;)


Now the problem of what to do with the sage curtain backing...

Since the swivel rod didn't leave any room to work with behind the rod, I couldn't just sew the sage curtains to the back of the white curtains. My original idea was to tack the sage curtain to the back of the white curtain just underneath the part hanging from the rod. I finished one panel completely (TEDIOUS, especially since I was working with two different sized panels)


and then spent most of a day thinking how I didn't like the way it looked.


OK...onto Plan B. I decided to try stringing elastic through the top of the sage curtain panel in a loop and then hang that (tied as tightly as possible) over the hardware before replacing the rod with the white curtain.

It sagged, of course,


which I was expecting, so I pinned it up to the top portion of elastic in two places. It still sagged,


so I pinned the sage curtain to the underside of the white curtain in several places...


and that (FINALLY) worked! (The left side of photo is the successfully finished curtain panel; the right side was still waiting to be fixed.)


With the piece of sage sheet that I cut off, I made a simple sash for each side:


So, I finally have curtains for our French doors! And that works for me! I really like that I can wash each piece separately, which was something I was concerned about when I was tacking the two panels together. Now? No problem!



You know what else works for me? With my sewing project, Josiah (8) has a sudden and extreme interest in sewing. He has mended holes in two pair of his sweatpants and a t-shirt, and is hungry to learn more. Last night he started sewing a scarf for Grace (4) using strips of colorful rags, too.



It was the sewing machine that sparked his interest. I think he figures the sooner he learns sewing by hand, the sooner I'll let him use the sewing machine! Still, I will totally use his new interest in sewing to help all of us ease into school next week. I want all of my kids to at least know how to mend a hole, to sew on a button, and to hem. The first few days of school after Christmas break seems like the perfect time to tackle that!

Are you thinking of using bed sheets to make curtains for your home?  If so, for which room?  Will you use a solid colored sheet or one with a pattern?



Click here to see my other WFMW posts.

If only it could always be this easy

Grace (4) came running into the room to find me. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and she was sobbing so hard she could hardly tell me that her Dollar Tree horse-on-a-stick had been stepped on and the plastic pole was smashed.

I held her, stroked her hair...and remembered the brightly colored rolls of Christmas packing tape that I'd just bought because they were marked down to $.50 each at Staples.


I asked Grace if she wanted to pick one of those designs for her horse and I would fix it. She smiled, and picked out the red and white stripes. She excitedly told me that her horse loved her new candy cane dress,

and that her other horse wanted a polka dotted dress.

Of course.

She was delighted with her horses' new dresses


and they were, too.

Who, me? Stylish?

My imaginary friend* Kathleen at Treasured Chapters recently awarded me the Stylish Blog Award.

And then I got sick, we traveled to be with family for Christmas, yada yada yada, and now it's more than a couple of weeks later. Which makes me look ungrateful. Which I'm not.

To accept this award, I have to list 7 random things about me and then pass it on. (And hopefully not within a certain number of days...because, if so, I've likely blown that.)

1. I don't really say "yada yada yada" in conversation; I only say it in my mind...and, apparently, on my blog.

2. I think it's laughable that I've been awarded the Stylish Blog award. It's safe to say that I am anything but stylish. That's why I typically ask my sister-in-law Cindy for a sweater for Christmas, because she can pick out stylish clothes.

3. I am perfectly happy shopping at Goodwill or consignment stores/sales, which is why I am saddened that my favorite local consignment store closed this month. Now I will have to find a new favorite consignment store.

4. I'm not particularly fond of change.

5. Or shopping.

6. Or conflict. (Can you say "middle child"?)

7. But I like making lists. They help me think and plan, and clear my mind of the details. The more conflict (or shopping...or change) going on in my life, the more detailed the lists become. Which is probably why I became downright obsessive with my list-making during my last two pregnancies. ;)

So, there you have 7 random facts about me. And now I'm passing on the award to Julie at From Inmates to Playdates, Elizabeth at Yes They're All Ours, and Suzy at The Winter Blahg.


*"Imaginary friend" is the term my husband uses for people I have met online but have never met in person or talked to on the phone...and they may or may not even know that I exist. :) I am happy to say that Kathleen, Julie, Elizabeth, and Suzy all do indeed know that I exist, and I am thankful to count them as friends!

Look who came to visit!

Santa in our living room...

Wordless Wednesday: Christmas Trickery

I imagine he was thinking, "Really? A 'Design-a-Mug'? What am I, five?"

He tossed the box aside. I made him open it (after I made him pose for that picture).

Surprise!

Visit 5 Minutes for Mom and Shibley Smiles for more Wordless Wednesday participants.

Let the stable still astonish

But when the time was right, God sent his Son, and a woman gave birth to him. Galatians 4:4 (CEV)

Please click over to read the short poem Let the Stable Still Astonish by Leslie Leyland Field.

Merry CHRISTmas!

Overheard: Christmas photos

I recently took pictures of the kids for the photo we include in our Christmas letter. It was surprisingly easy this year. (And, no, that's not sarcasm.)


Shortly before the "perfect" shot, this is what was going on...


That one really captures their goofiness personalities better. I think we'll go with that kind of photo next year. What do you think?

We also made the trek over to the mall to get a picture made with Santa...


Quite possibly the last Santa picture we'll get with Robert in it. :( He had to be bribed (with Mountain Dew) as it was!


Telling Santa what they would like for Christmas:



...And Grace said she would share her candy canes with me. ;)

The kids' take on Santa this year? Grace said that he was supposed to be fatter. Josiah said that Santa seems to be getting younger each year, and that his beard was 2 inches shorter than last year. (Josiah also added that Santa was about an inch or two fatter last year.)

Merry CHRISTmas!