Return of the (Curtain) Ring

I've been unwell. I started to make the curtains for our living room, but after making a mistake with the lining I decided to stop until my head was functioning again. After that I sat in front of the telly and felt sorry for myself. And ate the odd chocolate.

But now I'm back! The curtains are at the point where they're almost ready to hang, so here's the progress report.
First, I tried out a section of the eyelet tape directly onto a test strip of fabric:

This showed that the distance between the eyelets was not the same as the distance between the diamonds in the fabric, which was going to be a problem becasue the hessian overlay would get in the way of the eyelets. After much head scratching I decided to make a small pleat in every diamond across the fabric so that the new distance between them would match that of the eyelets. To do this I also needed to remove the hessian on the back of the fold. The result was a much improved match:

Using this technique, I applied tape to the folded tops of both curtain pieces. At this stage the tape is not sewn into place and is held purely by the eyelets.

Next I attached the lining and interlining. Putting the main fabric right side up on the table I first overlaid the lining, right side down (so that the right sides were together), then laid the interlining on top of this. I don't believe there's a right and wrong side to interlining. At least if there is I haven't spotted it!! The interlining was cut to the same length as the main fabric - ie enough to line the drop and hem. I should have cut the lining to match but because I cut it before I was really compos mentos, I have cut it too short: just below the level where the hem seam will go. Hopefully I can work around this.

Vertically, I measured the width of the main fabric and then placed the lining and interlining seams so that these would both end up a little narrower than the main fabric (about 3cm each side). This will pull the sides of the main fabric round to the back of the curtain and prevent the lining ever showing at the front. The pictures make it look as though there is a bigger difference than 3cm, but this is because the lining and interlining were both considerably wider than the main fabric to start with.

So now my main fabric and linings are attached, I need to tidy up the tops by properly sewing the tape to the main fabric along the top, tucking under the tape at the side edges, and then attaching the top of the linings to the bottom of the tape. This will be much better than hanging the linings off the main fabric as this would cause drag and drop. The tape is tough enough to withstand the weight and act as a strengthener.

After that, I'll hang both curtains from a pole, to relax before securing the interlining (to stop it moving about and becoming bunched up in use) and lastly, hemming the bottoms.

Thursday - Thread and Ginger

Preserved Ginger update
The ginger wasn't very photogenic in the bottle - too little ginger and way too much syrup - so I scooped them out onto a chopping board instead. I ate one in the name of quality testing and it tasted really good! I don't know how long they'll last in the fridge, but I intend to use some tonight with the fish recipe I found, and I doubt the rest will last long enough for me to find out.

Curtains Update

This is the fabric I found. It's silk taffeta, with a hessian overlay, and I love it on a number of levels. The juxtaposition of sophisticated brown silk taffeta with what is basically old rope is really fabulous for one thing. At a more basic level the silk will reflect the sunlight beautifully, and for some reason it reminds me of medieval fabric. I got it for only £10/metre, which is brilliant.

I'm going to make an eyelet header, which is something I've not tried before. I read that the push-fit eyelets don't work as well as one made by a punch and a mallet, but the latter approach would have set me back at least £200 for a hole punch, and I couldn't quite justify that! I'm sure these push-fits will be fine, but there's only one way to find out ...

My Hair

Today I cut about 4cm off the bottom. This is something I do on  a regular basis. I've tried to train myself to go to a hairdresser like any normal professional woman d'un certain age, but the urge to cut always overtakes me before I get there. I'm limited of course, to what is euphamistically called a "choppy" style, but then I think that suits my personality. My hair, to be fair, is very forgiving. it has a natural slight wave, which hides a lot of uneven ends, and if it doesn't, then I comfort myself with the thought that people will simply think I've tried very hard to look as casual as I do. Little do they know it's my very own triple bluff.

Later today...

... I'm going to cut the curtain lengths, plant herb seeds and make the fish recipe with ginger and chives. I also think I'll start writing a book. I've been meaning to for some time, but I keep changing my mind about the subject. More on my progress tomorrow.

Wednesday - Curtains, Dinner, and Finding a Proper Job

Curtains
Today the eyelets and tape arrived for the curtains I'm going to make for our living room. We have a weirdly shaped bay window, and a radiator underneath it so I can't hang proper full length curtains without blocking the heat. I thought about moving the radiator, but three of the four walls already have either a door, or the window taking out a large chunk of wall space, so I didn't want to further restrict it by hanging a radiator on the only remaining wall!

If we were in town I would just hang blinds at the window, but in the country, somehow, that just looks odd and unfinished. My solution is to make floor length curtains that when drawn, will only cover the side panels of the bay, and make a blind (Roman, probably) to cover the middle panel. That should keep it nice and soft. I got the fabric at half price in the local Fabric Warehouse so I'm very happy. Tomorrow, I'll start on them, but today I've been absorbed in other things.

Preserved Ginger
After looking at the various job sites for a "proper job" I started browsing for recipe ideas for tomorrow's dinner. My eye was drawn to a 2004 Jane Grigson recipe for salmon with lime and preserved ginger. Now, I have salmon in the freezer, and I have limes, but I have no preserved ginger. I'm 9 miles from the nearest supermarket, and to be honest, I didn't want to drive all the way there on the off-chance that they might have some. I did have a piece of root ginger about 10cm long in the fridge, however, so after consulting the internet and ignoring most of the advice I found there, I've made my own.

I peeled the ginger and cut it into 8 chunks (four lengthwise and two widthwise), then I put it in plain water, brought it to a rolling boil and kept it there for 10 minutes to soften it. After that I dissolved 400g caster sugar in 200ml water, put the ginger back in and boiled it again for 15 minutes. I decanted it into a pyrex bowl to cool down, and once it's cool I intend to put into one of the many clean and pretty glass jars I've got stored away in the spare corner cupboard (you know, the one in the corner that you can never really reach into properly and which gets full up with things you only use at Christmas or on picnics). There's too much syrup, so if I ever make it again I'll halve the amounts of sugar and water.

I'll post a picture once it's in the jar.

Chain of Events

Well my intention was to write about something interesting today, but it seems that one of my cats (or possibly both of them) decided to use my newish coat as a swing whilst it was hanging in the hallway. It is a nice classic wool melton coat of the sort not very often seen these days and I really like it. I found it on the floor, being used as a cats nest, and the chain that it had been hanging on was broken in two.
Now this is one of those "stitch in time saves nine" situations...it's very tempting to think that the coat is perfectly useable without its hanging chain, and in a way it is -but if it has to be stuck over a peg, an ugly lump will form in no time in the fabric and it will be ruined. So it's out with the trusty pliers to effect a rescue in less time than it's taken me to write this blog.

I slipped the broken link over the unbroken end, then squeezed the broken link shut with  a pair of pliers: (Rust optional)

 A quick squeeze in the other direction (90 degrees to the first squeeze) in order to make the link round again - and the chain is like new.

My little darlings also made a bit of a mess of the lining with their claws as they pulled the coat into  a nice nest shape. I forgot to take "before" photos of that, so "after" photos are a bit pointless, but I used my usual technique for pulls, which is to scratch back and forth with my nail over the surface of the fabric in the direction of the pull, and bit by bit the pull eases out and the fabric returns to a normal shape. You can also be quite hard and pull or "snap" the fabric back into shape if it's a tough yarn like cotton. I didn't try that with this silky lining though. Any bits of pulled thread remaining can be taken through to the other side of the fabric with a needle - just push the needle into the hole where the pull is and just before the eye disappears through the fabric, push the pulled loop into it. Continue to push the needle all the way through and the pull will disappear. I've had a lot of luck with this technique. Very valuable if you own cats! You can also be quite rough and  sharply pull or "snap" the fabric back into shape if it s a tough yarn like cotton. I wouldn't try that with this silky lining though.

New Day, New Blog

I've been thinking about this for a while, but today is the day I'm going to do it!

All my life I've been fascinated by fabrics and what can be done with them. In my teens I taught myself to sew and made a lot of (I'm sure) slightly odd creations that expressed my inner self. As time has gone by, and money has been available, or non-existnet, I've made various things out of silk and cashmere, altered charity shop buys, and done a million thngs in between.

With the economy as it is, and a growing sense of awareness about the importance of not wasting things, my self-imposed challenge right now is to take other people's out-grown or not-quite-right articles of clothing and  make something desirable out of them. But I'm not prepared to give up style! Oooh nooo!

Over the next few weeks I hope you'll come with me as I explore the possibilities in a number of different items and see what I can do with them. With luck, I hope you will feel inspired to do the same.