first DIY of my apartment!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. The weather here was absolutely gorgeous and I was able to spend Saturday having brunch with friends, going to a local art college's art sale and watching a rugby game. After all that, I decided I needed to spend Sunday getting things sorted out in the new place.

One thing that's been near the top of my list is turning this really fun and cute fabric that my mom got me into curtains.

I bought a couple of curtain rods last week and was feeling a little ambivalent about whether or not I should put them up. Then on Sunday, I just got this massive urge to Do It. I've noticed that happening more and more where before I'd talk myself out of a project, but lately I've just had this push to Do It. And I did!

So this is how I created my Half-assed, should-absolutely-be-ashamed-of-myself-for-even-calling-them-this, Curtains. Why so hard on myself? You'll see.

Fortunately, it's a huge piece of fabric - this is with it folded in half. I was able to use the additional couple of feet for another temporary project.

So to begin I measured the window space and the desired length that I wanted for my curtains. The windows are 5ft high, so I wanted them to be 5 1/2 feet plus extra space for hemming and creating the space for the rod to go through.

So after measuring and cutting, I was pretty much stuck. I have no sewing machine and no iron. I have stitch-witchery to hem with, but I would have to borrow someone's iron which would mean I'd have to finish this project in the next couple of days.

Then it dawned on me, I can just make some quick stitches by hand and those should be able to sustain the weight of the curtain. Some of the sides are already hemmed, so I can make sure those are placed in the areas that it's noticeable, but for right now there's no reason to get too fancy. Then it dawned on me again, I can just place pins instead of sewing and be done, so I did it.

You can see my little pins, haha. After installing the curtain rods, which was a micro-feat in itself because the screws couldn't screw in completely, I just wanted to get these curtains up and complete this project - no matter how half-assed it is. I apologize to anyone with a sense of propriety or anal retentiveness because these "curtains" really are shameful, but look at how beautiful they look:

I think they look darling. Oh and that key print at the top of my bookcase is what I bought from a former RISD student at the art sale (you can find her work HERE).

Did you see what I did with the remaining fabric? I created a total half-assed, but-I'm-not-going-to-actually-keep-it-this-way-I-SWEAR, Table runner.

This was another just quick pin-up job mostly to see if I liked that fabric there or if I wanted to go with another color/pattern. I still haven't decided yet, but certainly if I stay with this fabric I'll get a stiff backing for it and actually sew it together.

I wish I could say that one day I'll actually hem the curtains, but frankly they're more for decoration than use anyway, so I'll likely keep them this way unless I run into problems. However, I did go into my bedroom that night and think, 'I need curtains in here now!' In which case those could actually serve a function, so perhaps I'll do a better DIY job or take the easy route and purchase a set. We'll see!