Tuesday, June 22, 2010

I Made Something!

Don't faint from the shock!

My mojo disappeared sometime back in March. It seems like the combination of my crazy weekend of warp painting during a power failure, followed by an unexpectedly warm spring that just stayed nice, totally crushed my creative energy.

That's OK though. I've definitely been enjoying this fabulous spring and summer while getting enough accomplished to keep my head above water.

It's sort of surprising what kicked me back into gear.

We had guests over for dinner, so I wanted to unearth the dining room table. It was my sewing room for the winter, but I wanted to clear off the sewing to make room for entertaining.

I decided to make the blue curtain that I so excitedly found fabric for after the Fuzz Fest in January.

This fabric is a curtain fabric that's pretty stiff. It has blue and black threads making up the fabric, and then gold thread machine embroidered in that swirl pattern. I used it unbacked, even though it technically has a right side and a wrong side. It's nice enough on the back that I'm OK with that.

My sewing machine had a little trouble with this fabric. I tried a bunch of different needles but if I was sewing through more than 2 layers my machine had trouble and sometimes couldn't pierce the fabric. If you have any tips and pointers for me regarding that, definitely let me know!



In bits and pieces throughout the week, I finished the curtain!!

Here are the steps I followed (for my reference as much as yours!)
  • Get measurements of finished curtain
  • Sew side seams
  • Sew pocket for curtain rod at top
  • Hang to check length
  • Sew bottom hem
  • Hang to check
  • Store until winter!
We won't hang it until the fall, because it is used to separate our kitchen and sunroom, which we heat well in the winter, from the rest of the house that we let get pretty chilly during the daytime. It's surprising how well a thin curtain can keep heat where we want it.



Bailey immediately figured out how to get through the new curtain. (The old one was short, purchased inexpensively as a test, so Bailey could walk right under it.)

That's one project down.....too many to count to go!!

I even tackled the pile of mending next to the sewing machine before moving all of that gear upstairs. I repaired a pair of jeans, pajama bottoms and a turtleneck.

Hopefully I'll have a bit more creative energy over the summer, if only to hide from the heat and humidity. I have some weaving deadlines in the fall, so I'd better get cracking!

10 comments:

Lois Evensen said...

What a lovely curtain. Very nice design. You are on a roll!

Delighted Hands said...

It only takes one project to get you back on track-yippee! (As for the right needle for the curtain-a 100 would have helped if it is a dense fabric or better yet a jean needle.)

Alice in Richmond said...

Very nice curtain! Lots of houses used to make use of fabric insulators in doorways right?

My creative/blogging mojo left me in the spring as well. It hasn't come back yet but I hope the warp I am threading slowly will get something going!

Deanna said...

Yeaaaaaaa!!! The first breakthrough primes the pump!

Theresa said...

Well gosh, good to see you've tackled a primer project!
The curtain looks great there and I see some pretty kitchen green too. So looking forward to your fall weaving!

DEEP END OF THE LOOM said...

I love the fabric you used, it's so pretty.

charlotte said...

The curtain is very pretty, I love the blue color and the pattern!

Leigh said...

Looks great. We've discovered that too, about even thin fabric keeping heat in. Or out.

Anonymous said...

Very pretty! We did something similar when we lived in Exeter - we hung a curtain to block the stairway off, in an effort to keep more heat on the first floor and keep the second floor cooler for sleeping. It seemed to work well! Of course our curtain was just beige, and not beautiful like yours. Awesome fabric!!
:)Colleen

Sharon said...

That post resonates with me as our dining room becomes my sewing room during the winter - east facing. Today at book club we were trying to determine who would host next month and I said No-Thing. I don't want to give up my work space yet~