Handmade Purple Curtains

A couple of months ago my daughter Emily, 11, decided it was time to move on from her little girl bedroom. I knew the day would come. I actually thought it would come much sooner than it did. She'd had the same pink floral curtains since she was born. She'd had the same pink quilt since she got her big girl bed at age two. The teddy bear wall border was put up on a hot summer night when I was 8 months pregnant with Emily. Yeah, it was time for a change.  

These photos are from 2008. They're the only ones I could find that show the old curtains and bedspread. They're not the greatest but they give a general idea of what the old stuff looked like. As you can see there's a constant presence of cats in my photos. Emily took these photos. The white cat is our old guy Morton, the one we lost last December. Best cat evah. But I digress. 

I let Emily pick out an oh-so-cute comforter set from Walmart. I scored an awesome deal on their website. Comforter, pillow sham, bedskirt and sheet set for $39.99 + tax and free site to store shipping. I got all of this for just over 40 bucks. Isn't it cute and tweeny? This is Walmart.com's photo, not mine.

Photo courtesy of http://www.walmart.com/

The next step was curtains. I promised her I'd sew them to match the new comforter set (eek, I hate to sew). We headed to Joann's and she picked out a dark purple fabric. I wasn't sure about the color but she was. The store didn't have enough fabric in stock so I ordered the 8 yards needed from their website. When the fabric arrived I realized Joann's sent me an extra yard. Score! She's now getting a bonus throw pillow!

It took me a few weeks to get the curtains made. I was only able to work on them in small blocks of time. My Singer sewing machine and I have a love/hate relationship. I use it so infrequently that I have to read the owner's manual every time I sew something. Threading the machine and bobbin is a chore. The last time I sewed something I used tan thread. I have no idea what the project was.

Sorry, I digress again.

I made four simple rod pocket panels. I used flowered ribbon to make the tiebacks. I stitched them into large loops so there's no messing with bows or ties. I finally finished them about a week ago. I messed up. I made one pair longer than the other. Oops. Emily discovered the problem when I hung the mismatched panels together on one window. A little switcharoo solved that problem. The bottom of one pair is hidden behind her bed so all is good.

I love the color. I didn't think I would but I do.  The only drawback is the fabric wrinkles very easily. Now that they're hanging it's not much of an issue, but ironing them is a real pain in the patootie.

The room is done for now. I told her the teddy bear wall border will have to stay for awhile. My living room and bedroom are at the top of the painting priority list right now.  I also haven't decided yet on a cute idea for the bonus throw pillow. I'm working on that.

Flower likes the new comforter. Oliver prefers what's under the bed. I think the room is adorable. What do you think?