Curtains for the new sewing room + a tour

When we moved into our new place, we quickly bought curtains for the other large windows. I had no intention whatsoever of making curtains for them, let alone the special blackout curtains to keep heat and light out (this is an important feature for us). However, for my sewing room, I wanted to make curtains for decorative purposes only. I LOVE the light my room gets, and I have no intention of quelling it! Plus, so rarely do I sew non-quilty things nowadays that I considered this a unique and special challenge.

Not that making curtains is hard. In fact, it's quite simple (the tutorial I followed over at Hey, Let's Make Stuff only had us sewing a few seams per panel - and bonus, we used the same fabric [I chose the fabric before I found the tutorial!]). The most lengthy part of the process is hemming and pressing fabric (those long seams!). Since I had just ironed 6 huge panels when we moved in, I put my curtains off for over a month.

I even picked out the fabric. I've been holding onto about 4 yards of Britten Nummer fabric from IKEA for several years now with Gollum-like attachment. In fact, it's discontinued, and I have to sadly tell my students and lecture attendees (they always want to know about that lovely fabric on the back of a couple of quilts). The fabric depicts numbers written out in cursive, and it's just a modern fabric marvel. When I posted the above photo on Instagram, others also decried the unavailability of such a gorgeous print. Sigh.

Anyway, it was time to dive in and use this yardage. I really did use almost all of it. After all, if I ever decide to change curtains one day, I can simply cut the fabric up and use it in another project. And as I've learned this year, it's better to use that precious fabric than have it never used at all (that is, if you can find a project for it). It makes me smile every time I walk into the room. And now here are just a few pictures of my new sewing space!

  

My space has a two-table setup against the windows. On the other walls of the room sit my ironing board (next to my sewing machine) and desk (below). All of this is very flexible, in case we have guests or another need for the room. It's just the kind of room I need right now to finish up my book.

So I finally did it: cut into the fabric, sewed the long hems, pressed for a while, and made the best darn curtains I've ever made (please note there have not been many, heh). Now my sewing room seems complete! Check. But I'm getting the itch to get back into making some garments... we'll see.