Sewing curtains -tutorial

If you ever think about learn to sew the curtains are good thing to start. And it is easy way to save a lot of money.

First of all you need the window, fabric and sewing yarn. And hands or machine for doing it all.

Before going shopping measure the window and plan how wide and long you desire the curtains to be. The fabric width is usually 90 - 140 cm.

My plan was that the width can be anything; depens on the fabric and how it inspires me. The length of the ready curtains was planned to be not less than 150 cm but some extra was allowed. At the shop I found this blue lace fabric.

You need to count the folds. If the fabric is not something extremely heavy like thick velvet you won't need more than 15 - 20 cm extra for each curtains folds. BUT if you use cotton or linen ASK how much it will shrink (4- 20% per meter) and add that measurement for each curains lenght.

You can ask the saleswoman match the length with the print. Ask them to cut the fabric for you at the shop without extra charge. Even I -who can cut fabrics asleep- let them cut the curtains at the shop because it is easier in that way. So, also this time I came home with pre-cut pieces of fabric.

If you are unsure about which is the right side of the fabric; ask them to mark it at the shop.

How much you need for the curtain rod fold? Measure its circumference, half the result and add some extra. You need 2cm for the seam plus this space for the passageway. 1cm is enough to get the rod through; but if the fabric is thick 1cm may feel too tight at the end. If the fabric is slippery very wide passageway doesn't keep the curtains so wide open easily; they want to slip and get half closed. You need extra also for the hem. 3-5 cm is enough for each curtains hem fold.

In this case the circumference is 9 which means 4½cm for the fold, plus 2cm for the seam and 1cm for the passageway; which makes 7½cm at least. I would say around 10 would still be fine. And 5cm more for the hem. I wanted at least 150cm height curtains so it makes 150+10+5=165cm. Because it needed to match with the print the result at the fabric shop was 175cm.

My fabric has this kind of edges. I don't need to sew them. They are cut and burnt into the shape. But this edge determines the places of the folds.  

If you need to sew the side edges, do it always at first. In the same way like pictured below. 1-2 cm should be enough for each fold. The point is to hide the selvedges.

Hang the fabrics somewhere clean and not dusty place to wait their turn for processing. I always sew they all at the same time; not one by one. So at the end I finish them all together.

Place the pins like this. The sharp part should point to there from where the sewing happens. In this way it is easier to take the pins away. Don't sew over the pins; it can break the pins and sewing machine needle. And when they snap the sharp parts can fly anywhere.

Always fold the fabric to the back side. I had to fold the passageway for the rod in this way to match the shape of the edge. Especially if the fabric is slippery or feels difficult to stay on hand made folds; pin the fold at first like this. Measure all the time that the lenght stays the same.

Then pin the fold seam like this. Again; measure all the time. Sew this fold before pinning the hem.

This is the hem fold. It is smaller. Again the edge determines the height.

Do this in the same way than before. After finishing this, your curtain is ready!

My curtain needed just two seams. One for the rod and the other for the hem. Easy, simple and fast. One curtain cost me 8,75€ because I didn't need to buy the sewing yarn.

Blue and white lace

To run away from the spring cleaning I really needed to go to the fabric shop to buy material for the living room curtains. I didn't find the right fabric at my last weekend fabric shopping. Now I went to another shop and there it was in a sale basket. Well done! Just 5€ per meter. I have never before seen any other colour lace fabric curtains than different shades of white. Perhaps somewhere else -not so backward- it is common to use all the shades in lace fabric but no, not in the windows located deep north. But soon there will be some in my windows.

I bought also some white velcro and lace. No, I am not going to use them for the curtains. :) But they are very useful to have at home. You never know when you need them.

Tomorrow I will sew the curtains and later on will teach you how to make simple styled curtains by yourself. Just to save money. My aunt used to moan she can sew only straight seams. I said there are no any others; they all supposed to go straight. :)

Because the evening turned like this I had to go back to my spring cleaning project and forget the burning need to sort out more raw wool. Yes, there is still snow. Today we got more snow and even hails. But today I also saw the first rainbow for this year so I know; summer is comming and soon the whole sun will be all mine -day and night. :)

This and that from fibres and fabrics

I've been shopping. I need to make a dress for myself. There will be very formal celebration with ball in July. Unfortunately they didn't sell updates for dance skills but the fabrics I found. This disco effect looks very 80's. But I will use it just a little bit, like a drop in a blue sea. So it should look more decorous than cheap. I have the design in my head; I just need to make the pattern.

And I have already started from the 1st step. Which is not getting the fabric or the dress itself. All the ladies reading -the 1st step is to buy the underware. You should always get them first and try on the dresses with the wanted underware. The underware change the form of your body which influences also on the dress and how it looks on you and how you look in it.

Today I had yarn moments on sofa. I stitched my secret projet and the yellow heart. I also crocheted a bit BlanketNo2. I was happy to discover it was not that slow anymore. The starting was so desperate slow but now I think I will finish it before Xmas. Yeppee! Still it is slow but not devastating dull.

This is how it looks now from the front side...

...and like this it looks from the back side.

The day has been dry with a blink of the sun. The evening was cloudy but still no water drops. It was perfect weather with tiny wind to do something a bit different.

We went outside and carried two of five bags from the shelter house.

I have bought 20 kilos of ethic produced sheep wool. Today we started to clean them up. We seperated the wools by colours and picked up the white ones and put the dark ones back.

We cleaned the wools and packed them into clean paper bags. They should not be stored in plastic bags because it perishes the fibres. Believe or not but at the moment we are using extremely old garment bags made of paper which we happened to find in good shape!

It is easy to clean the raw wool. Put a clean tarpaulin on the dry ground and wool on it in a pile. Then lift up some wool and it shows its form when you do it gently. There is no need to tear the wool apart. It happens without doing. So, lift a bit and start gently shaking. The trashes drop down easily. Beware off not to shake above the wool pile; to avoid more trash to get into the wool you suppose to be cleaning. You can pick up the straws and other bigger trashes individually by fingertips.

On some other day we will continue this project. Little by little. Later on May we'll take this wool and arctic dog wool into a spinnery to get ethic produced yarn which will be mix of sheep and dog wool.

BlanketNo1 -tutorial

Ta-dah! Here it is! My design, my BlanketNo1 with tutorial especially for YOU!

It is big enough but gets bigger because of its structure! I love it because it is elastic and you really can wrap yourself in it very tight but soft.

I used 500g of Novita's teddy yarn. It has 45% wool, 30% polyamide and 25% acryl. 100g means approximately 110m of yarn. If you can't get exactly this yarn pick one with similar look. Most important is to pick up the yarn with similar ability (100g = 110m) to make it match.

The idea of the start.

 The idea of the end.

BUT before starting it is important to sit down and think. How big you want it to be? (Mine is approximately 160cm wide and shorther to its length.) 

You start with chain stitches. The amount of them must be divided by 4 + one extra chain stitch for the turn up. Always add one extra chain stitch at the turn ups -as you can see from the charts. 

This starting line of chain stitches will form out the first row of the banket. After it you need to make two rows with single stitches before starting the chain stitch lace.

This is the first single stitch row. 

It is a bit tricky but you'll be doing just fine. 

The pictures below show how to make a single stitch.

Here's the reason why the amount of the chain stitches must be divided by 4.

After the second single stitch row you start to crochet the lace. You crochet 4 chain stitches and fasten them to every 4th single stitch by single stitch. Then again 4 chain stitch, fasten to the 4th single stitch by single stitch and so on until you are at the end of the row.

If it is not matching at the end (not anymore divided by 4) don't panic. You don't need to demolish it with tears. Just before you are at the end count the remaining stitches and divide it all by them. If there's 1-3 different sizes of lace holes with the difference 1 less or more chain stitch none notices it later. Except you and you won't tell.

When you have make the first lace row you start to fasten this 4 chain stitch line to the arch by single stitch. On the begin of the tutorial video you can see how I make this fastening. I make it in free style without attacing it to one single chain stitch. I make it so because it forgives more. In this way the lace has more space to move around and be elastic if an accident happens and it gets stuck to a door handle for example.

Remember to add one extra chain stitch at the turn ups. It gives more room for the edge.

This is a free style chart which size you decide. Especially if you have limited amount of yarn and it is not possible buy it more later the next thing is very important. When you end your 1st ball mark it up. You need to know for how long it lasts. At the end part when you start the last ball mark it again. The end of the blanket with single stitches takes a bit more yarn than the start of the blanket. It is so because on the begin you made 1 row with chain stitches and 2 rows with single stitches. At the end there is 3 rows with single stitches: which demand more yarn. So, if the ball was enough for the start and 11½ lace rows; do the end with 11 lace rows + the sigle stitch rows. But remember your own consideration. Only you know the size of your blanket.

In the middle of the tutorial video I show how to crochet the 1st single stitch row at the end to finish the blanket. I fasten them again free styled. Partly because it is easier. And at the end of the video you can see the last 2nd and 3rd single stitch rows are attached in the normal way again.

BlanketNo2 started

After far too many weeks I bought a craft magazine just for me. The chocolate I didn't need to buy, I just went to the bag that hide my Easter left over chocolate. Yummy! We all had fun on sofa.

 I started BlanketNo2. Also this is my own design. I guess I'll be doing it still by the next Xmas. So much of slow work and patience it seems to ask.

This is how the BlanketNo2 looks from the front side. As you can see I use two different kind of yarns. The beige is Novita's Nalle ( 75% wool, 25% polyamide). That funny furry thing is stella by teetee (60% acryl, 20% wool, 15% polyester). One ball of stella yarn weights 100g but means just 30 meters of yarn. One ball of Nalle weights 150g but has even 390 meters in it.

I am going to crochet with stella one row and five rows with that beige between each furry row.

So far it seems you could use it in both sides!

Busy hands

My BlanketNo1 turned out so big that it didn't fit into my yarn bag anymore. Because of the cat I need to keep my yarns somewhere she can't paw them.

The BlanketNo1 is almost finished. The sun and the wool warmed my legs when crocheting it. The cat was very curious again but didn't dare to do anything but dream.

I started new Carry-On project. It is again one more heart. Yellow in this time. And yes, it still is going to be part of that bigger art project.

I did also some painting...

...and some wrapping.

Patching wool -tutorial

Perhaps the most difficult thing in patching wool is to find matching shade if you want to make it as invisible as possible.

I had to make it invisible because he had lean at something sharp that had torn a hole to the upper back part of his woollen pullover. I don't need to say it was almost brand new...

Start with fastening the yarn without knots. Take it under fibres for about 5cm to one direction and then back.

If there really is a hole in the wool you need to make help rows for patching. Take the yarn from right to left and back as many times as needed. Go from down to up or opposite. Meaning that these right-left running threads should form like ladders.

Create new knitted surface by using these right-left running thread ladders. Use chain stitches. The chain goes from down to up and formes similar surface like knitting. You can use as many chains as needed. But if the hole is big you need to fasten the chains to the ones on its both sides. You will do just fine. See how it goes on the knitted surface and copy / reproduce it.

Only when the patching is done take away the untidy loose ends and other messy things from the right side. Do not cut anything!

Use a small hook to pull the thread ends to the other side.

This is how it looks finished. Not invisible but don't get frustrated. It will smooth down and get more invisible in use. The life itself will fade it more.

Fasten the remaning end of the yarn.

Fasten it to another direction that you did on the begin.

So that these start and end points won't make the patched part look more thick.