WWTGS (aka: What Would Tim Gunn Say?)

Last weekend, I decided to tackle my plain-Jane curtains. So while Denny was doing this,

I was turning the lower living room curtains into something slightly more impressive than they were. Which was this:

As I said before, I had this idea of putting some kind of ribbon border along the edge and fancifying it up (like that word?—yeah, I just thought of it now). So I went to Joann’s and came home with several different spools of ribbon, ranging from an extra-wide, white “lattice” pattern to thin, old-fashioned, pale-teal ribbon with a loop border. In the end, though, I decided on a ½” bold teal. It contrasted nicely with the color of the curtains and wasn’t too…quaint? Is that the word I’m looking for? I suppose. The ½” teal was the only one that didn’t look too countrified (a word which I decidedly did not make up but which fits the situation perfectly). So, on it went!

I began by laying out my curtains on the floor in front of the TV with You’ve Got Mail playing (is anyone surprised?) and used some double-sided “Peel’n’Stick” to start laying down the ribbon along the seam at the bottom. I simply took the tape, cut it in half, and pressed it along the ribbon, being careful not to get any outside the edges. However, once I got it finished with the first row, I realized that it needed a little something more, so I got out the 2” painters tape left over from the cabinets and used it to create an even spacer along the entire first ribbon.

The next step is exactly like the first step, except…well, I used double-sided Scotch tape on the ribbon. This is due to the fact that I had to cut the other stuff with scissors to get it to the right width (it was about a ¼” too wide) and therefore gummed up two sets of scissors by the end of the first curtain. However, for the second curtain, I was a little more innovative. Instead of using double-sided tape or trying to cut the “Peel’n’Stick” adhesive with scissors, I got out a box cutter and cut it directly on the roll to the size I wanted. Easy-peasy.

Next, I continued to carefully lay out the ribbon in straight lines with the Peel’n’Stick (which I recommend over the Scotch tape), then finished off the rows neatly. To make it look less like…well, taped-on ribbon, I made sure to line up the edges of the ribbon with the hem lines and also made sure the edges were carefully cut and not frayed. Now that I think of it, I should go back and add some non-fray glue to the ends…

And there you have it! A chic, simple addition to plain-Jane curtains! Of course, I didn’t stop there, though. After hearing about Mom’s new curtains, which have tab backs and thereby a nice pleated look, I decided to create a similar effect on my own curtains. I decided to be resourceful (aka: cheap) and use the extra Peel’n’Stick and ribbon to create hanging tabs on the back of the curtains (thanks for the inspiration, Mummy!).

Again, out came the blue painters tape (I love that it gives me a consistent and removable guideline). Next, I Peel’n’Stick-ed a bunch of four inch cuts of ribbon along the edge of the tape, using a piece of cardboard as a space measure.

I then laid out my curtain rod along the ribbon tabs and used more “permanent” P’n’S to attach the other end of the ribbon (those quotations are sarcastic by the way—can you see where this is going?).

Simple, right? But right away, there were problems, because although the top looked mighty spiffy…

…the hem was just a wee bit shorter than I liked.

And it got worse, because by the end of Sunday night, the whole thing looked like this:

Yeah, “permanent,” my butt. Oh, well. I guess that’s what you get for going the lazy route and trying to tape your curtains up. So, now they look like this:

And, while that is still an improvement over the ribbon-less curtains of a few weeks ago, I just can’t get the memory of those nice pleats out of my mind. Sewing isn’t an option (because I don’t know how to sew them on in such a way that the seams won’t show through the front side) and it’s clear that adhesive simply won’t do the trick. Oh, well. I guess that leaves me two options: either get over it, or get my Project-Runway on and “Make it work.” Which leaves me to wonder, what would Tim say about the tape fiasco? No doubt he’d give me the chin-holding-elbow-propped-stare-down, then shake his head in disappointment. I can just see it now…(and you can, too, right around second 22 of this clip!)

An Easy Stenciled Pillow How-To

There were some things in my design for Amanda's living room that just seemed obvious. The baskets for added storage, the hanging lanterns for light, a rug to anchor the space…All of these things required little searching on my part. They just presented themselves as part of the design right from the get-go. Some things, however, like the artwork and the design for the pillows, required a little more research. However, when I first saw this dog silhouette pillow from West Elm, I knew right away that I wanted to incorporate something similar into Amanda’s space.

I right away began searching the internet for the right dog silhouette. Since I planned making a long pillow (I think the dimensions were 12”x28”) I needed a longish silhouette. The obvious choice would have been a dachshund, but since Amanda and Kelly have one large lab-Great-Dane mix and a smaller Heinz 57 dog, I wanted something a little more playful and a lot more athletic. I eventually stumbled upon this one from ShutterStock.com:

At this point, I had a rough idea of how I wanted to create this pillow, but it was really guess-and-check from here on out. First, I made the pillow cover. This was really easy since I bought a pre-made pillow form at Joann’s. Basically, all I did was buy some fabric, make some basic measurements (namely, mark out a half-inch less than the size of the pillow form on all sides, so the cover would fit nice and tight), then I sewed two of the sides and left the other open. I left the one side open so I could lay it flat to do the stencil and so that I could put a piece of cardboard between the fabric, thus preventing it from bleeding through.

Next, I printed off the silhouette at what I thought was the appropriate size. Then, I gathered some basic materials.

Something else that I used which isn’t pictured here (and which actually was the most interesting tool) is a small, fingertip razor from Fiskars. On, second, thought, I’d better include a picture of it…See? Very sharp and very accurate. I have to say, it was crucial to getting the stencil cut out properly.

To replicate the West Elm design, I had the idea that I’d use some leftover contact paper from my window project to create the actual stencil, which I’d then put directly on the fabric and paint the inside, creating the blurred sunset-colors for the dog while still maintaining a sharp edge. And, I’m happy to say, it worked better than I anticipated!

First, I cut out the dog print and then used some double-sided tape to stick it to the back of the contact paper. Something which I did not think of was that since my stencil was going to be adhesive, I’d eventually have to flip it over to stick it to the fabric. In hindsight, I should have mirrored the silhouette, which would have resulted in it being the way I had originally intended, but such is life! And, anyway, I think it turned out pretty well as it is. (In fact, up until now, I bet the only people who knew it’s actually facing the wrong way are myself and Denny! Oh, well—secret’s out!)

After sticking the silhouette to the contact paper, I traced it with a Sharpie. I then removed the original silhouette and voila! A dog shape on contact paper! Let’s hear it, people: “Ooooh! Aaaaah!”

Next, I got out my tiny detail razor and slowly and carefully cut along the traced lines. It’s worth noting that I did this on a heavy-duty cutting board. If I hadn’t, I definitely would have ended up with dog-shaped scratches on my table.

After I finished cutting the silhouette out, I removed it (carefully to ensure that I didn’t warp or tear the stencil) and ended up with this lovely template for my dog pillow!

Alas, this is where my handy photos end, because it was at this point that I got extremely excited and rushed along with the rest of the project without taking any more pictures. However, I can give you the verbal breakdown of how the rest of the project went.

First, I trimmed a little closer around the stencil with a pair of scissors, so there wasn’t quite so much contact paper going on. Then, I gently removed the paper backing and attached my stencil to my fabric. Next, I used some fabric paint (in orange, copper, and yellow) and some small foam craft brushes to randomly go about the stencil’s edge to create the outline. I was very careful about how much I moved my brush when it was in contact with the stencil because I wasn’t sure how well it would hold, but I’m pleased to say that the contact paper held very firmly and I probably could have been a lot more rough with it.

After getting the outline done, I used my paint to swoosh around the different colors, blending the edges and trying not to be too patterned. I wanted the whole thing to look very organic, not like I’d thought about color placement too much.

Once the dog silhouette was entirely filled in, I very carefully peeled back the stencil and threw it away. Denny almost had a heart attack when he saw me detaching the stencil while it was still wet, but I assured him that it was to create a more precise, crisp line—and he eventually saw that I was correct.

I let the paint dry overnight. The next morning I was still really excited…but I also realized that my dog silhouette didn’t quite fill up as much space as I’d originally thought. I instantly thought that I’d need to make some kind of border on the outside edges to cut the white-space down. I thought of a lot of different options, like painting a border, sewing the edges an inch in to create a flat border, or even adding some ribbon to the edges. However, when I got to Joann’s and started looking around, I found some flat carved-shell beads in the jewelry aisle that were perfect. I took them home and messed around with different patterns for about five minutes before deciding on this one.

To make sure that the border ran in a perfectly straight line, I used some two-inch painter’s tape to mark out a line, then began sewing the beads on right along the edge. I didn’t take any pictures because I did it by myself one afternoon and it was definitely a two-handed job. Once the borders were complete, I stuffed in the pillow-form and used a ladder-stitch to sew up the open end of the pillow and the rest is history!

PS: If you have any questions or if something seems confusing, please leave a comment or send me an email and I’ll try to clear things up. This is my first detailed how-to, so I’d really appreciate any comments you have about it. Thanks!