Blinded

A while back I started thinking about window treatments for the kitchen and dining room. Our kitchen had a cellular shade, one that I never lowered because we have no need for privacy in the kitchen. It was just a clunky white thing at the top of the window. I hoped to replace it with a decorative fabric option, but I've never liked any of the valances you see in stores. Roman blinds have a look that I love, but the only inexpensive options I found used boring fabrics without patterns. So I started looking online to see if there was a straightforward DIY option. I came across a great blog post from Richella at Imparting Grace, in which she detailed how to do precisely what I was looking for. Plus, it didn't take a sewing machine!

Going to a fabric store seemed intimidating, so I decided to take Richella's advice and try the tablecloth route. A couple of hours perusing local stores did not turn up any tablecloths, but I did find some other panels of fabric I liked. I brought several of them home and Nick helped me chose one. We went with a bright, sunny yellow pattern from Target that would pop against the blue of the kitchen walls.

In addition to the fabric I purchased three oval tension rods for this project. I measured the width of the kitchen window using one of the rods, which was actually a bit tricky, and cut the fabric to a piece slightly wider than what I needed. Hemming it to the precise width was not easy, and involved lots of pinning and ironing to get a nice crisp fold under which I could tuck the Stitch Witch hemming tape (which is amazing - you just place it and iron over it).

I brought the bottom up to overlap the top and made a giant loop of the fabric, again using the Stitch Witch instead of sewing. I don't like to sew and I don't have a sewing machine, so tape or glue are a must.

Then I slipped a tension rod inside the top of the loop and placed the rod inside the window frame. So far, so good. Once I was sure it would fit, I took the rod and fabric out to make it easier to place the second and third rods a little lower down.

After that, it was time to replace the fabric with the top tension rod, let it fall behind rods #2 and 3, and then pull it over to drape in loops. It took me a while to get it where I like it, but I think it works! The loops don't raise or lower, but I don't need them to do so - it's a purely decorative piece.

I like it, and I'm pleased that it didn't take more than a few hours. Were I more familiar with working with fabric, it would probably have taken even less time. Next up will be the bay window in the dining room; I've bought a lovely blue and white fabric for that project. Plus we need to replace that kitchen light fixture - it's so ugly! Maybe next month...