Monday, December 2, 2013

Yards and yards and yards....

You may remember and still be curious about this photo from November 20th:


Have you guessed what was in the box? If your guess was fabric, you were right. It was fabric. Lots and lots of fabric, wrapped snugly around a heavy cardboard tube. Over 15 yards of fabric, in fact!

There was so much fabric that I had to use my kitchen floor as a cutting "table". Of course that meant that I had to wash the floor first, and it also meant that I had to banish the cats from the premises (which resulted in this) for several hours while I did the cutting.

Here's how I started out:


That's the right side of the fabric. However, I had to flip it over so that I could unroll it more easily. This is the wrong side:


It took every bit of that space to have enough room for the "rather large" pieces I had to cut! For a change, I was able to appreciate my outdated linoleum... those "grids" were very helpful in getting everything squared up! You should've seen me (no, you shouldn't have, really) in my knee pads crawling around on the floor, getting everything lined up just right. Whew! It was a job, to say the least.

After I finally finished cutting, I moved everything to my sewing room and began pressing. Yards and yards of pressing:


And there was the sewing. Yards and yards of sewing (accompanied by some good music):


Because I knew there would be fabric draping all over the place as I pressed and sewed, I'd first vacuumed up all the lint and bits of thread, etc., from previous sewing projects, so that nothing would be sticking to this fabric.

I had a deadline. The finished project needed (well, was badly wanted) to be shipped and received before Thanksgiving. I did it! It took me approximately 12 hours, over 2 days, which was really a push for me. But I DID it!!!

Unfortunately, I can't even show you the finished project, because I had nowhere to display it for photos. The best I can do is show it to you all packed in its box (which coincidentally was the PERFECT size for the already folded fabric) ready to seal up and head to the post office:


No, that's not the end of the story. I wouldn't leave you hanging like that (hanging... haha)! If you want to see the finished project hanging, you must head over to Jess's blog here! And yes, it was a big job, but if you love someone, it doesn't matter, right? ;)

Now back to the pattern testing, which I've also made good progress on, but not quite completed yet. I'll be showing you soon!

17 comments:

Camilla said...

Came here from Jess's blog, admiring her new curtains. Sewing curtains is not the most interesting sewing, but does make such a big impact. What a loving mum to do that and all to a deadline. We are about to move back to an old house and Jess's blog will be a source of decorating inspiration for me. Nice to know she has such a lovely mum helping behind the scenes!

annie dee said...

They came out fantastic!! Hooray! I don't think I've ironed that much fabric in my life time (I hate to iron). You and Jess make a terrific team. Great job! Love that fabric too.

Мария Рыбакова said...

Looked your project in finished form, it worked, turned out beautifully and harmoniously! Gifts and assistance for the family, what could be better at all times, and especially in the days before Christmas I wish you success in your work.

Live a Colorful Life said...

Just checked on Jess's blog--you did a gorgeous job!

raquel said...

I followed a link from howaboutorange -- your curtains came out great!

Last time I made curtains (home decor weight fabric), the side hems insisted on rolling inward, even after ironing. They still do, in fact, three years later. Does this just mean I have a really bad iron, or is there some secret trick to ironing heavier fabric?

The Luedtke Family said...

Lovely, I wondered if you were making drapes! I thought the box held the rods,though, I did not think of the fabric.

That's a lot to wrangle for cutting, ironing, and sewing.

Final project looks fantastic.

Grandma G said...

Thank you, everyone!

Raquel... it probably doesn't have anything to do with your iron itself, but maybe in how you used it. There's a difference between 'ironing' and 'pressing'. When you iron, you slide the iron back and forth, which may stretch the fabric slightly. When you press, you don't slide the iron but instead just press and lift, which is what I did when making Jess's drapes. I can see where ironing might affect curtain seams, especially if they're really long ones. I don't know if it's correctable at this point by re-pressing, but might be worth a try (or maybe wash - if the fabric is washable - and then press). If you did press that way originally, then maybe the problem has to do with the tension on your sewing machine (too tight or perhaps not balanced), or maybe the layers of fabric pulled through the sewing machine at different rates and ended up uneven. A good 'pressing' might help that, too, but not sure. Just my guesses. Post back if you figure it out and/or find a cure, okay?

LiEr said...

Speechless! You did that in 2 days??? No procrastination? Brava! (or boo, depending on whether you're on Team Procrastination or Team Efficiency). Seriously, the print matches! I mean, it aligns along the folds. So ridiculously well-done and thorough!!! Yay, Grandma G! The fabric is really nice, though, and I had a look at Jess's whole room with the curtains installed, and it really rocks. The whole rich red-deep blue feel, I mean. "Grand hotel" indeed, as you rightly called it. So yes, very nice work! We shoulda had you make our curtains instead of living with the hideous pastel floral swag drape things we had for years!

Grandma G said...

So unlike me, wasn't it? Haha! Now you know you should've set me a strict deadline for testing your pattern. ;)

Anyway, thank you! Those words coming from you mean a LOT!

raquel said...

Ah - that may be it! Next time I have them down to wash I'll try giving them a good press as well. Thanks so much!

Auntie Kris said...

Great Job on the drapes! Long seams are such a drag. They turned out beautifully. Think Jess will come consult on home dec for me?

Grandma G said...

Thanks, Kris. Umm... I think she's still kinda busy trying to figure out what to do with the rest of her place. ;)

Nanna J (aka Megan's mom) said...

They're lovely! Just saw them on Jess's blog. I sympathize, because I recently wrestled 20 yards of deco fabric into curtains for my younger daughter (Megan's sister), to cover her huge sliding door/window wall. And I lined them, too. Then shipped them off to CA, so I look forward to making a trip out there in January to see them hanging!

Grandma G said...

Thanks, Nana J ! Sounds like your job was even more of a challenge than mine. What we don't do for love of our kids, eh? ;) And why do they have to go and move so dang far away??? At least Megan's close now, right?

Nanna J said...

It's great having Megan 5 minutes away; we have a lot of fun. But Amy all the way in CA...sigh. Sounds like there are places to explore when you visit Jess in her new city, and there are always "mom" projects when you're there, too! We do what we can, right? By the way, your granddaughter has grown so much & is a beautiful little girl!

Caroline said...

Those curtains look gorgeous in her dining room! Great job making them... and they are the perfect length! :)

Grandma G said...

Thanks, Caroline!