This is pretty random for me because I am not exactly a domestic goddess when it comes to sewing. I really do not know what I am doing. Facebook’s “On This Day” feature loves to remind me of things I have attempted to accomplish in the past. Like that time I spent 2 long hours in a Jo Anne Fabric Store to get fabric and whatever those clothing blueprint things are called that you buy to make your own clothes. My daughter was determined to make her own dress. We still haven’t made it. Good thing the size still fits the blueprints as it was for clothing for ages 8-10. I apprectiate that they give us 2 years to do something with it. Too bad the youtube explanations might as well have been in another language. Suffice it to say, I don’t really know how to sew.
So when I finally got new bedroom curtains, I didn’t really know what I was doing and ordered the wrong kind-Rod and Pocket-rather than something that hangs on loops on the rod, so the curtains could move properly across the bar. I had focused so much on getting the right length, researching the different styles, taking measurements that were always off by a few inches so I ended up taking my best guess.
This is probably where using a local store and getting curtains custom made and spending a fortune working through the details with a professional would have been easier, but it’s just not worth the cost for one more year in our home. Plus, the pandemic has me being more self-sufficient these days anyway.
Turns out, I needed very non-standard 115 inch curtains, which require a custom make. Even on Etsy, it was hard to find the right kind of long curtain I wanted, with most vendors offering heights of 110″ or soemetimes 120.” I finally found a vendor who could do 115″ though not in the original material I had wanted (dupioni silk).
Once I got the height issue squared away, I totally dropped the ball on the other hanging options thinking whatever I got would work maybe? Honestly, I don’t know what I was thinking, besides just get this done.
So I hung one set up and there it sat mostly immovable thanks to the heavy material and rod and pocket system. So I ordered some hooks and found a video on how to hang curtains various ways, including the pinch pleat.
Of course, by the time I was ready to tackle this project, all I could find was videos on how to create a pinch pleat either by a complicated sewing process (nope) or using pleater tape and special hooks that I did not have.
Thankfully, I remembered a teeny bit of the video I had orignally seen and was subsequently unable to find. And well, I just fudged it, systematically making careful folds and then…the piece de resistance…I repurposed extra hanging clips to mimic a sewn pinch pleat.
NB: The hooks were a little wide for the rings and started coming off, so I just used to pair of pliers to pink the hooks closed a bit more tightly.
I am pretty damn proud of myself.
Fortunate Femme 