curtains | Beneath My Heart

Super Easy DIY Valance

August 1, 2011 AT 5:09 pm 11 Comments

August 1, 2011 By traci 11 Comments

Hey Friends!

I wanted to quickly show you a very easy DIY valance I made for Mandy’s kitchen.

I am going to share with you how to make it through a written tutorial, and then if you would like to watch a video tutorial of the process, I will share that at the end of the post.

First step is to cut your lining the size of the “finished length” of the curtain you are wanting to make.

The “finished length” is the size you want the curtain to be when it is finished (plus 2 to 3 extra inches to the height to allow for the rod pocket.)

So I measured the height and width of the window to see what the size of my lining would be. (Then added 3 inches to the height to allow for my rod pocket.)

Then I laid the lining on top of the wrong side of the curtain fabric I was using and cut the fabric two inches wider than the lining.

Next, I started on the top and folded the material over twice to create a hem. (You basically fold the extra two inches of material in half, and then over again.)

Pin the hem down as you go….

Then sew a straight stitch with your sewing machine to create the hem. Do this same step on all four sides of your curtain.

Next, you need to fold down the top hem about 2 to 3 inches to create a pocket for the curtain rod.

I simply sewed a straight stitch right on top of my other hem stitch to create the pocket. Insert the curtain rod, and you are almost finished!

(I used an extension rod for this project.)

All I had left to do was hang the curtain up at Mandy’s house.

Now please do not hate me, but I was not able to take picture of how I gathered the material up on each side and stitched it. I could do that and take a picture at the same time. :)

But I basically just folded the bottom of the curtain up several times, accordian style, and then used a needle and thread to stitch the gathered material in place. That’s it!

The paint color looks a little pink in these pictures because I used my flash. But it is not. It’s a very neutral color.

Now if you would like to see the most awesome video ever on how to do this (lots of sarcasm here), just click on the video below.

If you are reading this post through a reader, you will need to click on the post title or the video title to view it.

DIY Valance from Beneath My Heart on Vimeo.

Thanks!

Have a blessed day!

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Burlap Tiebacks with Interchangeable Flowers

May 6, 2011 AT 10:17 am 11 Comments

May 6, 2011 By traci 11 Comments

Happy Friday, ya’ll!

If you missed this tutorial that I did for my fellow Kentuckian, Gail at My Repurposed Life, here it is!

I want to share with you how I made burlap tiebacks with interchangeable flowers that I made for my drop cloth curtains.

I got my inspiration for this project when I went shopping with Sarah, Thrifty Decor Chick, last month. We went to the Ballard Designs’ outlet store, and I almost bought these burlap curtain tiebacks that were on sale(picture below). One thing you need to know about me is I love burlap!

Then I came to my senses and said, “Why would I buy this, when I can make it!”

Oh, it’s the blogger in me.

I decided I wanted to make a flower with a little more spring flare, so I chose to make a pink one. (Or we can call it “Honeysuckle” which is the color of the year.)

You have probably seen how to make one of these silk flowers before in blogland. So have I, but I had never tried to make one for myself.

Can you say, F-U-N!

I had a blast making these flowers. (I may have even created a new obsession for me!)

I bought this costume silk at Walmart. I got 1/4 of a yard, and it cost me only $.67!

First, I cut out five circles of descending sizes and traced them onto my pink silk fabric.

Then, I cut five slits on each circle to create the “petals”.

Carefully hold each circle of material over a small flame, (a tea light works best) and let the heat singe the edges.

Follow the two steps above with each circle and then layer them on top of each other to create the flower.

The last step is to get a needle and thread to attach the pearl button in the middle of the flower. Start from the back of the flower so the knot in the thread will not be seen.

Precious!

To make the burlap tieback, I just cut a piece of burlap 9 inches by 30 inches, folded it longways, and stitched up 2 of the three sides, leaving a hole at one end to pull the material through.

Then I ironed it flat…right side out, and stitched up the remaining side.

I also made two little strips of burlap to create loops on the inside of each side of my tieback, so I could attach the tieback to the wall with a hook.

The only thing left to do was attach the “hook & eyes” to the flowers and tiebacks.

And now I have a beautiful burlap curtain tieback!

I had so much fun making that flower, that I made two more flowers using a different technique that I will be sharing on my blog in the future.

I sewed a “hook” on the back of each of my flowers, so I can change them out whenever I want. How fun!!

I can think of a million different kinds of flowers to make. Maybe red ones around Christmas?

What do you think?

Of course, you could used this same concept with a different type material, if you do not like burlap.

Let me know if you give it a try. :)

Have a blessed day!

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Filed Under burlap projects, crafty project, curtains, window treatments 11 Comments

No-Sew Faux Roman Shade {by Richella from Imparting Grace}

April 5, 2011 AT 6:00 am 18 Comments

April 5, 2011 By traci 18 Comments

I am so happy to introduce my guest to you today!!

You may have heard me talk about my friend, Richella, from Imparting Grace, on my blog before.

Richella is one of my dearest blog friends. I met her shortly after I started blogging, and we instantly connected. Her precious comments brought me great comfort and encouragement during my mom’s illness and death.

I was so blessed to finally meet Richella in person at Blissdom this past January. She roomed with my sister and I! It is such an amazing feeling when your online friends become your real life friends.

That is Richella in the beautiful teal blouse. Seeing this picture again brings a tear to my eye. I love my blog friends so much and miss them terribly!

(Love you, Chris, Myra, Richella, Sarah, and Rhoda!)

Richella can be summed up in these words: Genuine, Compassionate, and Loving.

And she’s also a lot of fun!

She’s probably going to kill me, but I have to post these pictures of us in the Photo Booth at Blissdom.

She’s my buddy!

Richella’s blog is a treasure to read. If you do not follow her blog, you should. She will bless your heart!

Here are a few of my favorite posts of Richella.

Her New Guest Bedroom:

This next post blew my mind! She used a styrofoam cooler to make this beautiful ottoman. I’m totally serious!! A styrofoam cooler!

I love that her blog contains so many great things…home decor, crafts, English lessons (which I desperately need!), thoughts from her heart, and a whole bunch of spiritual wisdom.

Richella is also a mom of all boys. Three precious red-headed boys to be exact! And one of my very favorite posts of hers is a poem she wrote called, “Thoughts from a Blogging Mother.” It’s a must read if you are a mom and a blogger.

As a side note, I would like to ask all of you to please pray for Richella and her family in the coming week. Her husband, Jack, is having major heart surgery on Tuesday, April 12th, and I know she would covet your prayers. You can read about her husband is a post she just recently wrote, “Hope Matters”.

If you have never met Richella here in blogland, you are in for a treat!

She is beautiful. Her home is beautiful. But most importantly, her heart is beautiful.

So without further ado, here is Richella….

I’m so excited to be here at Traci’s today. I’ve known Traci now for nearly two years–and that’s a long time in blog years! One of my dreams came true when I got to meet Traci and her sister Cyndi at BlissDom in January. In fact, I got to room with them. Please don’t hate me!

Today I’m really glad to share an easy project that I’ve just completed for my kitchen: a no-sew faux Roman shade. (Try saying that three times fast!) First, I’ll show you my old kitchen window treatment:

That’s also a faux Roman shade, and I’m proud to say that I made it by following the wonderful step-by-step instructions from Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick. If you’re interested in making Roman shades, I highly recommend Sarah’s method. It will give you the look of an authentic Roman shade, and her instructions are easy to follow.

I love my red shade, and I’m going to use it again in the autumn and winter. But I wanted something a little different for spring and summer.

I considered something light-colored, but this is a west-facing window, and I wanted a dark background color to provide good heat-blocking on summer afternoons. So I was tickled when I found this fabric:

This fabric looks cheerful and summery to me. As an added bonus, it’s an outdoor fabric, so it won’t fade. (Note: the fabric is from Not Just Linens in Durham, North Carolina, and it’s called “Dorothy Ebony.”)

I’ve been so busy lately that I didn’t have time even to follow Sarah’s easy tutorial, so I came up with a quick, easy way to make a pretty good copy of a Roman shade. Here are the steps I followed.

Decide on the measurements you need. For this method, you’ll need to end up with a shade that’s the width of the inside of your window. The length of the shade would ideally be the length of your window, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be that long. Simply cut your fabric to the correct width plus an inch on either side and the twice the length you want to end up with. (This is a no-sew method, so you’ll need double the fabric length. If you want to sew a lining fabric to your shade fabric, you’ll just need a single length of fabric and a length of lining.)

Lay your fabric out on a large work surface. You’ve cut your fabric an extra inch wide on each side; now turn the fabric under 1 inch on each side and secure the flaps with fabric glue or with Stitch Witchery. (For my shade, I needed the full width of the fabric plus a little extra, so I simply used glue to secure ribbon to the selvages of my fabric.

Once you have your fabric to the desired width with the sides finished however you like, double the fabric over, right sides together. Glue (or Stitch Witch, or sew if you like) the two cut ends together to create a seam.

Turn the fabric right side out. Now you have a large rectangle of doubled fabric.

And now for the secret tool that makes this shade possible: the tension rod. These rods are adjustable to any length. Measure the inside of your window frame to find the length you need, and adjust the rod using the manufacturer’s directions. (Note: The insides of my window frames are not very deep, so I used an oval rod.)

Insert the rod into one end of your fabric rectangle, like so:

Hang your fabric rectangle in the top of your window frame:

See? My shade isn’t exactly the right length, but I’m only going to use it as a stationary treatment at the top of my window, so it doesn’t matter that it’s not quite long enough.

Take a second tension rod and hang it a few inches lower than your top rod (mine is about 7 inches lower than the top rod), like so:

Now bring your fabric up to double over the second rod.

Now repeat that process with a third tension rod. Here’s how the shade will look under the folds. (Those cup hooks are there from using Sarah’s method to make the red shade.)

You’ll have to fiddle with it to get the folds just the length you like, but it doesn’t take long. And here’s what you’ll have:

A fun, faux Roman shade that’s so quick and easy to create that you may want to make one for each different season!

I’m so grateful to Traci for the chance to meet all of you. I’d love to have you visit me at Imparting Grace!

Thanks for sharing such a beautiful and simple project with us, Richella! You are the best!

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Office Window Do-Over

February 9, 2010 AT 11:26 am 35 Comments

February 9, 2010 By 35 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to make a No Sew Roman Shade for my office.

I saw the project in blogland , and immediately decided to try it. Like…that night.

I used what supplies I already had and made this…

You can read about that project HERE.

I had intended to paint my office first, before making a shade, but I was just too impatient.

I liked the shade, (sort of), but not with my yellow walls.

So I finally painted the walls my favorite color, Khaki Shade by Sherwin Williams.

I forgot to take a picture of the roman shade with my new paint color, but let’s just say, I wasn’t diggin’ it.

The cream-colored shade just didn’t go with the Khaki Shade paint like I hoped it would.

So I got rid of the shade and decided to start over.

I decided to make another shade. Here it is…

My husband got me the “blessings” sign for Christmas. It is a very sentimental word for me because it is the word my mom said over and over when she was sick. She always taught us to count our blessings no matter what our circumstances.

The sign was very big as you can see, and I was having a hard time finding a place for it in my house. But then I held it over my window, and I loved it. If may not be for everyone, but for me, I love seeing that reminder each time I walk into my office.

Here is how I made this curtain…it was sooo easy!

I measured the height and width of the inside of my window frame and then added 1 inch to each measurement. That allows for a 1/2 inch seam on each side as you sew.

I did not use a pattern for this window. I usually use them when making window treatments, but I figured I could do this without one.

I bought some cotton fabric from Hobby Lobby. I got it on sale for about $2.00 a yard. I picked up three yards which cost me a little over $6.00.

Since the material wasn’t very thick, I decided to line the shade with the same cotton material.

I laid the material on my bedroom floor two layers thick.

Then I measured across the material with the width of my window and marked it with a pencil.

My window measured 39 1/2 inches wide, so I marked my material 40 1/2 inches.

Then I drew a line down my material by connecting all of my marks. (I used a yard stick to draw the line.)

Then I cut my material down the line and pinned it together to keep it straight.

I did the same thing down the material to get the length of my shade.

The height of my window measured 37 inches. I added an inch to allow for my 1/2 inch seam allowances which made it 38 inches. Then I added 3 more inches to the total to allow room for the rod pocket. So my total for the length of my shade was 41 inches.

I marked it with my pencil and drew a line all the way across.

Then I cut the material and pinned it all the way around.

Next, I sewed a 1/2 inch seam all the way around the material, except for about 4 inches on the top.

I left the four inches open to pull the material through.

Trim your edges, but don’t cut your seam.

Press open your seams. This is an important step.

Then I turned my material inside out and pressed on the edges of the shade.

I turned down about 1 1/2 inches of material on top to make a rod pocket.

Then I sewed a straight stitch down the edge of the rod pocket.

The only other materials I needed were some black ribbon and a tension rod.

I got them at Walmart. The tension rod was $5.00 and the ribbon was $1.99.

So the total cost of this shade was a little over $13.00…not bad!

I took a long piece of ribbon and slid it over the tension rod and down the back of the shade.

(Yes, there is paint on my window that I haven’t scrapped off yet. But who will see it…really?)

Mmmm….I guess all of YOU will see it…oops!

Then I folded the shade up accordion style and tied a bow.

I also used a hot glue gun to attach the ribbons to the front of the shade. It just helped them stay in place.

I’m really pleased with how it turned out.

It’s not perfect. But like The Nester says, “It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.”

Doesn’t the tan paint look so much better than the yellow?

My husband made me this amazing desk. I love it. If anyone is interested in how he did it, let me know. I might post about it sometime.

Here is the HORRIBLE “before” from a few weeks ago…

Oooh, this is so hard to look at!

Then it went to this…

And now I am here…

I’m getting there…

Now I need to accessorize, find a cute little rug, a new office chair, and maybe a chandelier? Wouldn’t that be cute?

I’ll be sharing the progress on my office throughout the week.

I haven’t joined any linky parties in a few weeks, so I am so excited to be joining (a little late)… >

Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land

Get Your Craft On at Today’s Creative Blog

Show and Tell and Blue Cricket Design

And More!

Blessings,

Traci

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Tagged curtains, home office Filed Undercurtains, home office, Uncategorized 35 Comments

No Sew Roman Shade

January 13, 2010 AT 10:31 pm 49 Comments

January 13, 2010 By cyndi 49 Comments

First of all, I want to say that if this post doesn’t make sense, it’s because I have a cold, and I just took some NyQuil! :)

Any-whooooo

I have a “to do” list a mile long. Wanna look-see?

*slipcover the couch in the guest house

*make a shower curtain for guest house bathroom

*make curtains for guest house bedroom windows

*put bunk beds in Adam’s room so Eli can move in

*turn Eli’s room in to my new craft room

*paint my office

*re-do my entire master bedroom, and on, and on, and on….

So what do I do this week?

I see a great idea of how to make No Sew Roman Shades on Monday, and all of a sudden it becomes a new project that jumps to the top of my “to do” list!

I’ve got issues. Serious issues.

I saw this post from Frugal Home Ideas on how to make a No Sew Roman Shade. I thought it would be great for my office.

The problem is that I have been shoving things into my office since the beginning of the holiday season. It looks like this now…

Yup. That’s it.

I was planning on cleaning it up, painting the walls my favorite color, (Khaki Shade by Sherwin Williams), and sprucing it up before I showed it to you.

Too late now.

We installed the faux wood blinds when we bought the house 5 years ago. However, I’ve been too lazy to shorten the blinds, and they were just a bit too long.

Wow, I’m just letting it all hang out here, aren’t I?

So, here’s what I did.

I took the blinds down and laid them on the floor.

I numbered the blinds so I could see which ones I wanted to keep. I was keeping every 5th blind.

Then I carefully cut the string below each of the blinds that I didn’t want to keep. You do NOT want to cut the pull strings!

Then I took the bottom piece off of the blinds.

And slid all of the blinds off.

At this point, I was questioning if I had any idea whatsoever what I was doing. But I persevered.

I put every 5th blind back on the strings, and when I hung them back up, they looked like this.

I used some off-white material and some black-out lining that I already had to make my shade.

I cut the black-out lining an inch and a half wider than the blinds, and about a foot longer than the window.

Then I laid the black out lining on top of my material and used it as a pattern.

Now the next step may have not been necessary, but I did it anyway.

I used a double-sided fusion lining to attach the material to the black-out lining. I followed the instructions on the fusion lining.

I laid the fusion lining on the material like this.

I used my iron to attach the fusion lining.

Then I pulled back the paper part of the fusion lining.

And then I ironed my material to the black-out lining causing the two pieces to stick together. (Like I said, I don’t know if this was necessary.)

Next, I laid the blind on top of the back of my curtain.

I used fabric glue to glue the material to the top bar of the blinds.

Make sure you do not glue the material to the outside two inches of the top bar or you won’t be able to put it back into the brackets in the window.

I flipped each blind over and applied my fabric glue. Then I flipped the blind back over and pressed it to the material.

Make sure you do not get glue on any of the strings or it won’t work properly.

Then I turned the sides of the material over about a half inch…

Put some hot glue on each blind…

Flipped the material over again on top of the hot glue.

I did this all the way down the side of the curtain creating a hem.

I pressed over the hem to make it more crisp.

Then I put the shade back into the brackets.

The extra material that I didn’t glue down laid perfectly over the bracket.

I then used my glue gun to create a hem on the bottom of the blind.

I tied a knot with all the strings on the bottom blind.

I used my hot gun to attach the fringe.

And I was finished!

I am pleased with how it turned out, but it definitely clashes with the yellow on my walls. Now I am going to have to add “painting the office” up to the top of my “to do” list.

Okay, that’s it.

I finished a project that I had no idea I was going to be doing this week. I’ve got to stop looking at other blogs…you guys inspire me too much and get me off track! :)

The NyQuil is kicking in really good now, and I am getting ready to crash.

Goodnight.

UPDATE (1-17-10): Now that I am feeling better, I am linking this project to all of my favorite parties….

Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Make it for Monday at Cottage Instincts
Make your Monday at Twice Remembered
Get Your Craft On at Today’s Creative Blog

DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land
Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors