Nautical Curtains - another box ticked

Phew, am I glad these are out of the way. I have spend the day pinning & checking before cutting and they have come out fine. They are lined as well.

I measured the bit from the rail to the sill and added on 5 inches, 3 for the bottom hem & 2 for the top. I then hand sewed the bottom hems and ironed flat the top ones.

For the lining I did cheat somewhat and used some linings from another pair of curtains. The width of my stripey fabric (SF) was 56 so I cut the lining 4 inches thinner so that when they are sewn up the sides and you turn them out, the SF has it's own hem. Like making a tube. I also started sewing the side hems from the bottoms, that way you can ensure that the lining will be higher than the SF. Once this was done I turned inside out, pressed, trimmed off the top and ironed the top down 2 inches then sewed on the header tape. It was very very easy. The Fabric cost £32 from 'all the trimmings' on ebay and the header tape was £3. Linings were free and the rail was in a sale for £9.99. So all in all a pretty good show.

The Floor & a heart

Well, finally the floor is down in my 'nautical' bedroom. It's a lovely bleached wood effect (the masking tape will be removed) and I am really pleased with it. It was also very very cheap. £126.00 from Screwfix who delivered it free as well. We used the underlay from the carpet instead of splashing out on new stuff. It was only about 4 years old. This stuff is quite good quality and will last soooooo much longer than a carpet.

As for my little heart pincushion, this is made from scraps of material from the quilt I made. I haven't quite mastered the art of getting the ribbon on straight yet, but I am sure these things will come in time. I sewed som scraps together then made a heart from a piece of A4 folded in half. I left about 1cm for the hem and handsewed it, left a hole, stuffed it with stuffing from an old pillow and bobs yer uncle. It's rather pretty and will look nice hung on a door or something.

I have recently invested in some lavender from Ebay. 200g cost around £3.60. It comes in a huge bag and I wouldn't actually fill up a whole heart. I will put half & half stuffing in one. I rather like the idea of a lavender sachet for my drawers & wardrobes.

I thought I would show some of Hubs exquisite crafting

He took a rough old piece of wood from our garden and made a beautiful window sill from it.

He is fab with wood. The window cost £200 and the wood was free.

His normal trade is ceramic tiling. I thought I would show a bit of that as well as I am very proud of his work.

A Chest of drawers which I already messed with

some 10 years ago. These started off as mahogany but I 'bastardised' them according to hubs. I sanded and sanded and the wood was still a pink colour, so I used a ronseal bleach and made them white, then waxed them this antique pine colour. They also had a mirror on top which I gave away sadly.

My next project will be to turn these into something special.

Remember what started me off with this Blog

They are now done so from hideous tangerine pine to (well I think) tasteful cool white with lovely knobs!!

Finished Quilt

I finally finished my quilt. I wasn't sure what to do with the edges. In the end I cut strips of fabric approx 11cm and ironed them in half and then ironed a hem on each side. Using a simple slip stitch, I handsewed both front and back. It took ages and ages but was worth it in the end.

My Chum liked it so much we are making a duvet cover

this evening and all of the afternoon to be honest. She is trendy so went for a modern version. I quite like it actually. I like the 'shabby chic' aspect with the patchwork but also the shocking pink!