DIY Edition: Curtains & Pillows

I wanted to put together some quick curtains for our garage windows on the cheap. My endeavor began with a trip to Hobby Lobby where I picked up this grey cotton blend fabric for $5.99/yard. I bought four yards knowing that I would probably end up with a little extra. 

The color of the curtains in the garage didn't really matter, but I knew that I wanted something neutral to keep the light that comes in from looking eerie. I chose grey because I knew I could do something with the extra fabric in another room of the house.

To begin, I rolled out the fabric and measured the length of the window (something near 51"). I decided to add 3" to the top and bottom (6" total) to allow for a 1.5" folded curtain seam. My final cut was at 57" for both panels. The width of the fabric on the bolt was enough for the width of my windows so I didn't need to cut it vertically. If I had, the panels would have looked more finished.

Here's the inseam for the curtain rod. Before sewing I pinned the seam and stuck the rod through to be sure that it would fit. 

Here we sew!

Ta-da!

After all of that I still had enough left over to recover these pillows for my grey and yellow living room. To get started I made sure to have enough fabric to fold over the pillow by placing the pillow on the printed (top) side of the fabric. Then, by folding the back side up, I pinned fabric to the the left and right side of the pillow. Sewing this pillow inside out is key so that the seams can hide.

Once the sides are sewn and flipped right side out with the pillow slipped inside, the top can be pinned by folding both the front and back edges into the pillow. Pin so that the seam is tight the pillow fits snugly in the cover.

To hide the seam, I use a slip stitch (go to the :50 mark). Pillow case covers aren't like pillows, in that with pillows you can sew the fourth side nearly all of the way before stuffing and then slip stitching the remaining 5" or so.

Here is the finished product! I made this burlap pillow over a year ago and freshened it up with a little paint and a monogram. 

$20 for two new pillow covers and two curtains seems like a pretty good deal to me! Thanks for stopping by the Humble Hammock. Do come back :)

Cara