Finished! They’re finally finished!
and now I get to rant! Goodness, when I got the idea of making drapes, I never, ever, ever imagined how long it would take, not to mention how tedious the whole process would be. I mean, they’re drapes, how difficult could they be?
First off – the idea. These cover a sliding glass door which is taller than usual. The ceiling in the room is 10 feet, and the door is 8 feet. 96 inches. Did you know no one stocks 96 inch tall drapes? 84 is the max I could find at the local home stores. The (rather dim) bulb goes off, and I says to myself, “Self, you can make ‘em! It’ll be easy.”
Finding fabric was no problem – a really great botanical tulip that catches the colors of the walls. I even found the necessary notions – buckram for the header. Then I decided they needed to be lined… You see where this is going, don’t you? Disassembled California King sheets from the discount store as the lining.
So, measure twice. Measure thrice…then realize that I will have to piece the panels to get the necessary width. Not only have to piece them, but do it in such a way that there’s not a nasty jarring jump in the print. Thankfully I have 14 yards.
More measuring. Must be sure both panels are the same size. Working on the header gave me fits. First I tried to miter the corners, like an oversized quilt binding or hem facing. Not happening. Then I tried using the turn and fold method. That worked better. Oh yeah, better not forget that buckram!
The sewing was all straight seams, so at least that went smoothly. Measure once more, then hem. I think it was just having to muscle so much yardage (14 yards, remember? With a lining!) that made the whole endeavor an ordeal.
The end result was worth it…but I don’t see myself doing this again any time in the near future. Wait! What am I saying… There’s the guest bedroom still to do.
So pretty!
And the end result is that they are gorgeous! The pain will fade…eventually. : – }