Julie's Rants 2013

The Great Makeover...This is part of my living room. I've kept it very neutral and haven't had much color because I can't seem to commit to paying a lot of money for patterned curtains and throw pillows that I might not like after one season.







I was looking through the latest issue of All You magazine and fell in love with this room. How can I get this look without shelling out the bucks. One suggested curtain cost $35/panel. This is what I'm talking about. I'm not going to pay $70 for floral curtains and then be sick of them in the spring. And throw pillows are going to run me at least $20 apiece. What to do?



Then this crazy idea dawned on me! I went around the house and found some unused throw pillows that don't match anything in the house. Because this is what happens when you buy throw pillows and then change your style.

I bought 5 yards of fabric. 2 yards were broad cloth (really cheap). Spent $15.58 for all.

I had 2 yards of this material and cut it straight down the middle. I hung on the curtain rod and measured how far down I wanted it to go. My curtains hang down behind the couch and the layout of furniture isn't going to change. I didn't want to waste material that wasn't even going to be seen.

The left over fabric I used to cover the first throw pillow. I didn't quite have enough of one piece and didn't want to cut into the other leftover piece so I used the dark green broad cloth to make a small filler strip which is on the back of the pillow.

I pinned the curtain panels then pinned the throw pillow cover.

For the last two pillows I was going to use the striped material on the front and the broadcloth for the back, thus saving on striped material. I measured length and width of both pillows. I've done this before with pillows and cushions and learned to increase the measurement by 2 inches and the pillow will fit in very easily. I cut out the striped and broadcloth pieces for both pillows and pinned together.

Now everything is cut, pinned, and labeled (so I don't forget what is what). It's only been an hour of time gone by. I only sewed straight stitches on everything.

I finished the curtains and simply pinned over the top of the existing curtains. We don't move the curtains so I'm not worried about the pins coming out. I really like these panels because it creates the effect without being overwhelming. Plus it's removable so when I change my mind... What do you think?

Here's the first throw pillow. On this one I made a simple pillow case and can tuck the ends or pin. The ends are long enough if I wanted to sew it in and close it up. But I have future plans for this cover.

I finished the other two pillows the same way. I like the contrasting patterns but it still fits my organizational (OCD) style. It was getting tricky at this point because you can see the top of a little blonde head in the bottom of the pic.

And here is the final result. It comes complete with Rowan in her newest bathing suit. She has already managed to make herself at home and move all the pillows out of their perfect spots.


I kept the cutting of the material to a minimum because I wanted to keep it in large pieces. Look to see a mixed-pattern dress for Rowan later! Very..Sound of Music and Scarlet O'Hara, eh?