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West Elm Knock Off: Gray Striped Shower Curtain

This is a knock-off I made of a Sriped Shower curtain I saw at West Elm and had to have. I made it by piecing together 10" strips cut from gray and white sheets. You probably don't need an explanation of how I did it, it's so basic, but here it is, as long as I took the pictures.

Below is the West Elm curtain. It'd certainly be more fun to have an old fashioned tub like this, but alas. (That's why I keep mine closed, so you don't see how un-stylish my tub is)

The sheets are twin flats ($5 at Walmart). It's wierd how the shade of gray varies in all the pics I took... if you want to see exactly the color you'd get, or pick a different color... just bop in to WalMart. I clipped them on with Levolor clip on ring dingees to hang them to little hooks. I have since picked up a Deka curtain WIRE from IKEA with much smaller cliprings that I'm going to re-install this with.

I wanted the curtain a little longer than the standard shower curtain so I could hang it a little higher, like curtains in general are being hung higher recently. So I cut 10 inch wide strips. 5 gray and 4 white.

Then sewed them together with 1/2 inch seams resulting in 9" finished strips x 9 total strips= 81 inches total before hemming.

I'm delighted with the result... especially since this bathroom is on the main level of the house and is visible from a certain angle from the living room ...

Restoration Hardware Knock-off: Eye Chart

This is from the latest Restoration Hardware catalog. I used photoshop to create the 18x24 images, then had it printed on the Engineering Blueprint printer at Staples, then framed it in an IKEA Ribba frame.

Singer Treadle machine turned desk

I've pulled my Singer treadle machine out and am going to use it as a desk. In these pics, this is before WW took the wooden parts off of it. And we're going to put a new wood desk top on it. But this is to get the idea. Maybe face left, maybe right... And the trio of pictures above are all projects too... ones I made photocopies of at the UPS store and put in my newly painted frames.

Keep Calm and Carry On Sign

I printed this for 8 cents at the UPS copy center and framed it in one of the 39 plus frames that I've recently painted black and the mat that I've painted white.

DIY Make your own Dropcloth Curtains

Dropcloth Curtains are easy (made of -- yes -- painting dropcloths)...

you don't even have to sew, if you don't want to (but more tidy if you do), but I've seen diy projects you just fold over the top to the length you want, clip on some clips and voila. The fabric ends up being a nice oatmeal color, nubby texture in a rustic sense, like a dressed-down version of duponi silk. (hmmm... yeah right). For mine, I used these 9x12's from Home Depot.

(This brand is very common... also sold out here in Oregon at Fred Myer and BiMart). (I'll try to get a styled photo of the curtains, but that would mean tidying up the living room and that doesn't fit my schedule right now.)

DIY ... HOW TO

Cut to Size: Measure your windows. My (two) windows are 6 feet wide and 8 feet high with a foot between the two (the ceiling is 9 feet high). So I made 4 panels (2 for each window). Each panel is 6 feet wide by 9 feet long (before hemming). I got this by cutting two 9x12 dropcloths in half. (They also come in 6x9 size, so you wouldn't have to cut them, if this is the size you need).

Square if up and hem: (optional) The ones I got weren't perfectly square or perfectly identical. The cloths ranged in length by 1 or 2 inches, so first I layed them out on the floor, picked the shortest one, and hemmed all of them to be that length. This was probably unnecessary since I let them "puddle" on the floor.

Decide on height & install curtain rod: B. installed one long curtain bar higher than the windows by 3 inches, but not all the way to the ceiling. (There is much discussion about how high to hang curtain bars these days ... somewhat higher than standard 7 feet is the current standard ... the height we chose seems about right to me, since my windows are already higher than std. 7 foot. And I didn't want the bar right AT the ceiling.)

Decide on how much puddling you want (if any). I read that in the old days of Victorian manor houses, the more puddling of expensive cloth, the more it indicated the wealth of the homeowner, as if to say "Look at the opulant waste of fabric puddled on the floor". So see my opulance!!! Drop cloth grandeur puddled elegantly on the floor. But how much? I read 3 inches is "plenty", 1 inch is "a little" (or some such guideline). Mine ended up being about 3 inches. You have to allow for this as you decide on how high to hang the rod and how long to hem the curtains.

Clip on the Clippies: I used black rings with clips (from JoAnn...half price on all curtain supplies), and clipped them on every 7 inches.

Hang them and (optionally) train them into pleats. In the top photo you can see how I pleated them, then tied the pleat with a ribbon and left them to be "trained" for a couple of days. It did help.

Open/Close them: Mine look nice and full when open. When I close them (which I rarely do... only the rare day when the sun is so bright on hot days, it heats up the room too much), but when closed, they don't look all that snazzy. Not much gathering left when closed ... but they're FUNCTIONAL, which was the point. And I keep them open 99% of the time.

The Color: Mine are an outmeal color, a pale grayish beige. A friend (hi, Diane!) says the ones she bought at Sherwin Williams are more brown, but this oatmeal color is good for my palette, muted, not too beigy.

So, my recommendation, if you're thinking of making them ... go for it. It's so easy. And to be sure the color is right, pick up a package at the hardware store and bring it home for a color test...

Stand-up Case Cover for Kindle or other ereaders (eg. the Nook)

 This is a prototype Kindle Cover I made for a friend. Easy Peasy.

When it's all folded up, it protects the kindle inside, the flap held closed by elastic. 

Above is the front view with flap held closed with elastic.

Below is the back view.

The outer fabric is a stretchy black and white knit.

The inside is made from the covers of a hardcover book. The cover is sturdy enough to stand up for hands-free reading. (I don't have a kindle, so below is my "artist's interpretation" of one standing up.

Here it's laying flat.

How to: Cut off the covers off an old hardcover book

Cut the pieces to size

 Sew up a long tube with elastic on one side

and a stretchy flap pocket on the other side to hold the kindle upright



 Take the snake like tube, and insert the book cover pieces. Sew them in place.

...and there you have it. A stand-up ereader for hands free reading.

or folded up to store or carry in your purse.