Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Joss: Curtains, remove the eye sore

The next item on the list of boat fixes was for me, what it needed most. The most hideous curtains I have ever seen in my life! This curtain is not only falling apart, but it is weird to start with. I had vinyl "wood" strips aligned vertically. And the best part is, the darker colored horizontal strips are completely plastic, they feel like a plastic tablecloth or shower curtain. So weird!

I just had to go. Being that it was one of the first things that you see when you walk in, there was no avoiding it. There was another curtain only 3 feet away from where the horrible curtain hang that was not as bad, it had green vertical stripes, but the green was much different from the green in the rest of the boat. I thought it would be best if they both matched, so I decided to make two new ones.

So I pulled it off and headed to the fabric store. I didn't buy fabric at the fabric store, because the only fabrics I liked were $16/metre! There was no way Im paying that much for boat curtains. I went home sad until I remembered a post I saw on Pinterest about crafts with drop cloths. Now, I'm not the type of person to re-purpose a drop cloth for the fun of it, but since it was the color I was looking for, and $13 total, there was no better choice. I drove to Home Depot and bought a drop cloth.

Making curtains the way I was doing it was nearly the easiest sewing project I have ever done!.

Materials:

Hooks to hand your curtain

Drop Cloth (or any other heavy fabric)

Sewing Machine

Fabric Scissors 

Pencil

Measuring Tape

Iron/ironing board

What I did:

I started by measuring the original curtains I added 1 inch to the vertical measurement to account for seams, and 3 inches to the horizontal measurement to account for seams because I was screwing it to the wall on one side I needed extra thick seams(normally just add 1 inch per side for 1/2 inch seams). 

Lay the fabric out on the floor. Measure and mark points with a pencil the size of the new curtain, connect the points with a straight line if you are not a super straight cutter (like me). Cut out the new curtain with fabric scissors. One huge benefit if you are using a drop cloth is that the sides already have seams, so in my case I only needed to make seams on two sides!


Next Iron your fabric how you plan to sew it. I needed 1/2 inch seams on the top for the hooks I was using so I folded 1/2 inch over ironed, and folded another 1/2 inch over and ironed. Since the bottom was already heamed I only needed to add 1 inch to my length. Pin the ironed fabric in place. Ironing is VERY important. You might not believe me, but ironing before sewing makes an item look much more professional. If you iron you are more likely to be asked "where did you buy that," then if you don't iron. Don't skip this step!


Next Sew the seams. In this picture I am sewing a piece that I took from one of the curtains that was used to attach the hooks. It is very unlikely that you will have this same piece, bit it was fairly easy if you are interested (I have no idea what its called or where to buy it). 

Once it is sewn that is basically it. I had to attach the hooks onto the top of the other one (not shown in the sewing picture above). Finally hang the curtain and  admire your handy work. 
Ahhh so much better! I am really happy with how the turned out, but next time I have free time (never) I might paint some stripes on the bottom to add a bit more pizazz!


If you need a tutorial on how to make other types of curtains try one of these:

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