I love to have fun with paper, food, paint, music and events and just being creative in all of it. However, I don't feel the need to be a perfectionist nor a professional in any of my creations. I wish I could have a blog JUST about the art of cooking, photography, sewing, art, mothering, jewelry making, card making, dancing, gardening, deep spiritual thoughts, decorating, poetry, party planning, baking.... and the list goes on but I can't. I don't think I was created with the ability to focus on one task. I like all of these hobbies layed out before me and the freedom to pick whatever I choose depending on the mood or time I have.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Frilly Fru-Fru Project #1: Ruffles, Rumples, & more Ruffles Curtains

When the wind blows through my living room window I want my curtains to daintily dance as each ruffled  & rumpled row gracefully moves with the breeze!

So the inspiration was born immediately when I saw the light airy gray curtains from Urban Outfitters. My desires for my Frilly Fru-Fru Curtains started Grand! I was going to cover the whole panel with ruffles and more ruffles.  Just like this:  Aren't these lovely cascading curtains inspiring. Well, the inspiration went out the window as soon as I started making these suckers.  WARNING: They are adorable but they are time consuming.  Also, use the RIGHT kind of no fray fabric.  It took me 2 days working on them for 4 hours each day. This may not seem like a lot of time for some but for me it was waaaay too long to spend on a project. It was worth it though. So I tweaked my idea to partial ruffles like this: Ruffled Curtains
The fabric I bought for this project was not NO-SEW friendly so that meant that I had to sew each ruffled row on both sides.  So my curtains went from this to 6 rows of ruffles and rumples on my curtains.  It still looks great and sometimes when your lazy and sewing is not fun for you tweaking your original idea is okay :).  The lady from A Drop In the Bucket blog here used bed sheets and cut them up which apparently this fabric didn't need to be sewed from both sides so all she had to do was sew it on her main panel and voila she was done.  A Drop in the Bucket blog which also has a tutorial says "it was pretty darn easy to re-create and so much cheaper".  In my experience this was not the case because of the fabric I used. On the bright side though they were so much cheaper to make.
 
Tutorial for all of you who didn't use no fray fabric for your ruffles or for some reason feel the need to sew both ends of your ruffles:
1. Lay your fabric out
2. I folded my fabric in 1/2 twice so that I was cutting lots at one time. It made my cutting easier.
3. I used a book the width I wanted and used that to measure each row.  This helped ensure that all my rows were the exact same size.  If rulers work for you than go with that.
4. Once all your rows are outlined on the fabric start cutting away.
5. I used a simple zig zag stitch on the side of the ruffled rows that would hang down and I folded in the side that I sewed onto the panel.
6. I sewed all of these zig zag rows first.
7. Then I folded in the other side of the rows and pinned them on to the fabric.  I started pinning each row leaving about 1inch hanging over the hem of the row before it. So each row overlaps about an inch.
8. I did this for 5 rows that was ALL I could handle.

This is NOT the finish product. I still need to add a row of rumples at the top.  It will go in our new house which we are not in yet so you won't get the whole effect til later.

16 comments:

  1. I love these curtains. I am a big fan of ruffles. The more ruffles the better. It just makes it beautiful from everything else. Unique is the word I am looking for. :) Just wanted to let you know that I am your new follower. You can visit me at http://showmemama.com. Make sure you leave a comment so I know you visited.

    Have a great day
    ShowMeMama

    ReplyDelete
  2. Glad you stopped by it's always flattering to get a follower! Yes, I agree with you on the ruffles. It was worth all the work :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. You did a great job mari! I love to see the different variations on projects like these so thanks for leaving me a link. I'm excited to check back to see the finished product!

    ReplyDelete
  4. shalynn, thanks. your info. was very helpful.

    ReplyDelete
  5. thanks for linking to Take-A-Look Tuesday - -first one! I just posted your link on my FB page

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lookin good!! Those really are just super pretty :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Christine, thanks! Mandy, I need to stop by your FB. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for linking to Take-A-Look Tuesday - I featured you today! You were the most viewed link!!
    - Mandy, www.SugarBeeCrafts.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. mandy thats awesome! thanks

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love your grey ruffles! The curtains look smashing. You are seriously making me rethink the look of my bedroom!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love this look! Sometimes less is more. Even with ruffles! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Jay, thx I am sticking w/ that philosophy.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love them but I am a sucker for ruffles fo sho! Come and say hi and enter my Jamberry nail giveaway!

    A mommy's life...with a touch of YELLOW
    tyandwhitneyulrich.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thx Ty and Whitty! I am with you on the ruffles. I will stop by and check out your blog!

    ReplyDelete