Friday, February 11, 2011

Chartreuse Drapes, Finally

Last year, I hunted in vain for several months for the right shade of chartreuse for living room curtains:  greeny yellowy gold.  Not too green, so it wouldn't like Christmas year round with the twin red sofas.  Not too yellow, because the room needed a cool note.  Light enough to not steal the spotlight.


I ordered several different fabrics online, but none were right.  I brought home home dec samples from JoAnn's.

I went to the fabric outlet for something else. . . and found a breathtakingly perfect heavy, lustrous chartreuse with diamonds woven in.  By my measurements, I needed 15 yards; all that was left on the bolt was 13 and 7/8 yards.  I bought it anyway.


It took me 8 months to cut into this fabric because I did my math (I'm bad at math!) over and over again, measuring and figuring and covering sheets of paper with calculations.  I'd lay the papers aside, in a kind of sewing terror, and then I'd have to start all over again when I approached that gorgeous fabric a few months later.
The drapes themselves are simply hemmed rectangles (except for the two that I had to piece) clipped to the curtain rings.  They are elegant and simple, exactly what I wanted.  We are so happy with our drapes.

 And I'm telling you the best part last:  I got all that fabric, 13 and 7/8 yards, 60" wide, for $60!  Most of the other heavy, silky stuff I was pricing was at least $20 a yard.  You do the math.



The next step for the living room is new color on the walls.  Right now, the walls are mushroom color because we didn't know what we were going to do in there.  Then we got the red sofas, I started the Klara Annabella, and you know the rest.



And when it's all done, I will be a better photographer and I can show you the whole shebang.
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12 comments:

  1. TracyFebruary 11, 2011 at 8:20 AM

    Did you ever finish your quilt? Are there photos?

    I love red and gold together!

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  2. JanelleFebruary 11, 2011 at 8:49 AM

    VERY good color!

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  3. bethFebruary 11, 2011 at 9:27 AM

    yes....those drapes are the perfect color. Lovely.

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  4. UnknownFebruary 11, 2011 at 9:54 AM

    How Beautiful! I love the color - luxury at such a great price!

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  5. LauraFebruary 11, 2011 at 10:13 AM

    They look fantastic - that color is perfect with your sofa!

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  6. life in this 1880 farmhouseFebruary 11, 2011 at 7:18 PM

    What a daunting job. I hate making drapes because of the large lengths of fabric and oh my they have to hang so they are the same length! You did a wonder job. Little math required just a good eye...right!

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  7. MargoFebruary 11, 2011 at 10:04 PM

    Farmgirl, one of the math problems was getting the same percentage of fullness at the single window. The front twin windows are larger, length and width-wise, but I wanted the drapes to have the same fullness. It involved percentages is all I can remember.

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  8. BethFebruary 12, 2011 at 12:39 AM

    Triumph! Great work!!

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  9. kimFebruary 12, 2011 at 6:46 AM

    You sound just like me, the eternal optimist........many times I've bought end of rolls where there was not quite enough fabric for the job in hand, and somehow always managed to make it stretch.......it's all mind over matter, if you want it to work bad enough, you'll make it.

    Lovely drapes with a good fullness to them, and a bargain.
    florrie x

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  10. Deanna BethFebruary 12, 2011 at 7:05 AM

    This is gorgeous! I vote for butter yellow on the walls. I'm so glad you posted this because I have a similar problem in my living room. I, too, have red sofas. When we moved in, the living room had white(ish) walls. I don't really care for white walls and have been longing for color, but I've been paralyzed. For four years. You have given me the answer. You're much better at colors than I.

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  11. MargoFebruary 12, 2011 at 1:05 PM

    DB, actually, I have so much butter yellow and biscuit yellow in my house (it was so dark and shaded before our neighbors cut trees down) that we're not planning on yellow for the living room. But I want to see yours after you paint it!

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  12. Christian - Modobject@HomeFebruary 18, 2011 at 12:23 PM

    Luscious fabric!!!!

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