Master Bath Curtain...

Today I made a very simple curtain for my master bathroom. I couldn't find any ready-made curtains that I liked, so I turned to my sewing machine once again. What would I do without her? Our bathroom window has privacy glass, so I didn't need a heavy curtain. I wanted something that would add a little more privacy, but still let the light come shining through!

I couldn't find a curtain in the right size, so I decided to make one and as usual I went to Target/World Market rather than a fabric store. You might remember that I like to make curtains from nontraditional sources, like dishtowels from World Market...

This time I found a really cute shower curtain at Target...

I love the embroidered border and the tassels at the bottom of this shower curtain. I cut it the size I needed, added a curtain rod and attached some curtain clip rings and was finished. It took about a half an hour from start to finish.

I love that these curtains let the light shine through, but add another layer of privacy...

Plus, those tassels make my heart sing...

Have a nice week!

Another Dishtowel Curtain...

A couple of days ago I posted about a dishtowel curtain I made for our kitchen windows. I decided to make another set of dishtowel curtains for our nook area -- our informal dining area just off the kitchen. A little background info...

I've had a collection of blue and white plates for years. My parents started my collection with plates from Williamsburg and various places in Europe. Each time they would visit a spot they would bring me home a blue and white plate. After awhile other family and friends continued the tradition and soon I had enough blue and white plates to cover the soffit around my kitchen. Here's what it looked like...

I liked it for a long time, but for the last several years I was definitely in the mood for a change. Ergo, the kitchen renovation and the removal of the plates. The plates, however, have a sentimental place in my heart, so I wanted to find a way to use some. I ended up moving some of them to a wall in our informal dining area off the kitchen, but that created another problem. What to do with little window to the left of the plates and the other identical window on the other side of a sliding glass door in the same room.

I knew I wanted to play off the blue and white plates, and I had just bought the dishtowels for the curtains in the kitchen, so I decided to look for another dishtowel that might work. I found another dishtowel at Cost Plus World Market that I loved...

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I bought a tension rod from Amazon and made a simple gathered curtain.  These windows are narrow -- only about 17" in width. I used two towels per window. 

Here are some very simple instructions for how to make these curtains. All you'll need is:

a tension rod

double fold bias tape

 & dish towels 

That's it!

I picked up some double fold quilt binding bias tape at Hobby Lobby and cut a length the width of the towel + 1".

Unfold the bias tape and iron the middle fold flat. {See above right.}

On the wrong side of the towel, pin the bias tape 1 1/4" from the top of the towel to make a casing for the tension rod. When you get to the edge of the towel, turn under the ends of the bias tape about 1/2" on each side. Then stitch the bias tape to the towel close to the top and bottom edge, leaving the ends open.

Insert the tension rod through the casing you've made and you're done. It's the easiest curtain I've ever made. 

These curtains literally take minutes to make. Like... five minutes -- maybe six if you're feeling a bit sluggish that day.

I was kind of limited by colors, but here are other samples of cute dish towels at World Market that could be transformed into curtains...

Love those pom-poms. Anyway, one last look at the dishtowels turned curtains I made. Love these simple and easy-to-make curtains...

Kitchen Dishtowel Curtains...

When we decided to renovate our kitchen, I knew it would be a gut job. Everything went. Although we contracted out all the heavy work, I knew the decorating tasks would be left up to me. {Yay!} There's nothing I love more. I started looking on Pinterest for some curtain options for our corner kitchen windows and the windows in our nook (right next to the kitchen). One of the options I found on Pinterest was this dishtowel curtain idea from "Refresh Restyle."

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I fell in love. So simple to make and I love the looser weave on cotton dishtowels that still give privacy, but allow light to filter through. I especially loved the little tassels on the ends of the towels.  So, I started looking for some creamy towels with a touch of gray and I found these at Cost Plus World Market...

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Love at first sight. This inexpensive dishtowel (regularly $3.99, but often on sale for $3.19 each) has the same adorable tassels with just the colors I needed. Unfortunately, I have two corner windows that are much taller and wider than the window in the picture above, so these dishtowels were not as long as the length of my windows. That's ok, however, because I love my curtains in these windows to be a little more than half the length of the window. Weird? Maybe. But, my windows have a northern and eastern exposure, so I get the glorious early morning sunshine through them. I love my curtains in that spot to reach a little more than halfway up the window allowing us the privacy we need, but low enough to fill my kitchen with sunlight! I tried just folding the top a few inches more than they had in the above window, but then the window coverings looked bulky and weird, so I went a different route.

First, as I said, my windows are wide, so I used four dishtowels per window. I sewed two together lengthwise for one side of one window and two more together for the other side of that window.  I cut off the top of the towels 23" from the bottom (tassels not included). I marked, folded, and pressed the fabric 21" from the bottom of the towel. Then I folded the hem under twice, so I had about a 1" hem and the dishtowel was 21 inches long.

I ordered some curtain clip rings and a couple of tension curtain rods.  Put them all together and whaaalaaa....

Mind you, I only have my iPhone to take photos, so inside photos are always dark, but you get the idea. One more...

Since I was on a dishtowel roll, I also made some dishtowel curtains for the nook area that I'll post about soon. Wishing you a wonderful fall weekend!