My kitchen window treatment, revisited

A reader was kind enough to ask about the window treatment in my kitchen that she noticed in my fall decor pictures. She wanted a closer look. Thanks for noticing it because it was the first thing I ever sewed from a pattern and was TONS of work! I choose the fabric because it has all the colors that are in my main living areas and I personally LOVE to sew with plaid because it makes measuring and cutting and sewing SO much easier (you just follow the lines!) so I felt for my first pattern it was just the way to go! I bought the same fabric that one of my sofa slipcovers is made from, a butter yellow duck fabric, and that is what backs it. So here it is a bit closer.

The red trim seems rather bold close up but it's a large area so it works! Now, I went to this reader's blog, Little *Precious Boutique, so I could actually refer to her by name but I didn't find it anywhere. I did see her amazing vibrant photography thought! She mentioned about having hers made but if she has anything to do with her etsy show, she seems to sew! So, whether you need this for yourself or whomever sews for you, this is a pattern from Vogue & the number is V7984. Here is a picture of all that comes in that pattern, obviously I used the bottom right. I added the trim and one thing I did that wasn't on the pattern was to wrap a part of the trim around each loop. With such busy fabric, that part just blended in and you didn't notice that detail and that tiny bit of trim fixed that! I will warn you, this requires a TON of fabric and I was stunned at how much I had to buy. I don't remember the exact but it was 3 or 4 times the length of the window, just an FYI!

I taught myself how to sew many years ago because I just could never find what I wanted or if I did, I was appalled at how much it cost. I started unsure of how to make a square pillow and just kept at it and now will tackle almost anything and am still amused that I now get paid to sew!

My most favorite topic though when it comes to sewing and why I sew is that a huge thing I love to do is to alter store bought items. Sewing is essential to take something simple from ho-hum to WOW. Here is an example of that. My client found this bedding that she loved. You can see some of the throw pillows on the couch that has the coordinating striped fabric which is also on the shams on the bed. This is the set where you have some choices but all that was availabe for windows was a 40" long valance. My client bought 2, thinking we'd just pop a rod on top of that huge window and it would work. OH NO, IT WON'T! Ha! Imagine just a straight line of a short valance on this huge window and massive room? But in her eyes, it was the only option so her though made sense. You can't buy this fabric elsewhere so what choice do you have? That's where a decorator and someone who can see things differently comes in! So, I found gorgeous store bought drapes in cream and had her return 1 valance. I took the other valance and chopped it up, sewed on loops, redid the seams, bought these finials and completely altered that boring valance into toppers of gorgeous 10' tall treatments that you could never buy from a department store. It's these little details that transform a space when decorating.

Very soon, I will show you a few things that were done with items I didn't love in a 'bed in the bag' type set for a nursery. I put another boring valance as well as sheets to good use and can't wait to share that project with you! Oh, and the mobile--I can't wait to show you what was done with the baby mobile! Coming soon . . .