It’s a funny thing, being an adult and living away from your parents. You grow up with these people who care for you every day and then once you’re old enough to survive on your own, you hardly see them. Going from 24 hours a day to just a weekend here or there really makes a difference in the relationships you have with people, especially your family. My parents came in town a coupe of weekends ago for my Mom’s 60th birthday and it reminded me how much I love my family. And I was reminded of their quirks. I somehow forgot the way my Dad clears his throat or sucks air through his teeth, since I don’t experience it everyday. Or the way that he used to add water to empty ketchup bottles to get the last bit out and we would all groan when we squirted a watery stream of ketchup onto our dinner plates. And I certainly forgot how I am EXACTLY LIKE MY MOTHER in almost every aspect. Thank goodness I think she’s swell or this could be quite the disappointing revelation.
Since this was such a momentous birthday, I had to make things a bit special. I corralled my other siblings and their adorable kids to take pictures of themselves with a birthday wish and then had a surprise waiting for my Mom when she woke up on her birthday. Simple, inexpensive and awesome.
After whipping up some delicious Idaho Sunrise , we headed out to Mary Jo’s Cloth store (aka the best fabric store in all of existence) to find some fabric for my mom. Fabric + Mom = happiness. I also wanted to pick up something for a little project I asked my Mom to help me with, as a belated birthday present. After our recent kitchen renovations, I wanted a little bit of pattern/fabric in the room, and was hoping my seamstress of a mother could help me figure out a faux roman shade. I pinned a couple of tutorials, and I’ll have to lead you to those instead of explaining the process myself. Frankly, I’m not sure how we got to the end product, but I’m glad we survived.
This is my sewing machine. And no, that’s not a joke. And yes, I know she’s ancient. But I have a special little place in my heart for her. My grandmother, who is an incredible quilter, bought my sister, mom and I this little Singer a loooong time ago in hope that we would all have a well made sewing machine to grow old with. I rarely sew, and know even less about it, but when I do – this Singer treats me well.
Our faux roman shade started with 1.5 yards of pretty fabric, and the same amount of liner fabric (a remnant for $1.75 – score!) and some white thread. My mom walked me through the basics of sewing a large rectangle (with the liner smaller than the shade fabric so you could have the pretty fabric wrap around the back) and how important it is to iron, iron, iron while sewing. The fabric shade was as long as the entire window, and just slightly wider (after seam allowances) than the wood blinds I have on the kitchen window. We flipped that puppy right side out, stitched the bottom hem and got to figuring out how the folds would work.
Why yes, we sew in our jammies. Aren’t we fancy? This picture is deceiving, though. My Mom was definitely the driving force behind this project, but I did do a good portion of the sewing. Of a rectangle. It’s an accomplishment, folks.
I wish a had a magic formula for how we figured out the folds, but that didn’t happen. I just knew I wanted the finished shade to be 18″ long (about 1/3 of the window) so we finagled our way to that dimension. We sewed the areas that would be hidden by other folds on the machine, and then whip stitched the back liner of the other folds to keep thing from being droopy.
We then wrapped a 1×3 with our leftover fabric, draped the shade over the wood and stapled in place, and attached the whole thing to our window frame with some metal L brackets. And by we, I mean my dad and husband after an early morning golf game and a quick power nap.
Why yes, we hang window treatments in our jammies as well. The faux shade took a bit of trial and error but overall it was a really simple project. And I’m kind of giddy over the final product.
Hello, lover. Scott says is looks “western” but I say it looks fabulous. Again I’m on the ikat train after years of despising it. I think I’m growing up.
Thoughts on the new addition? Oh, and you can thank my husband, the Punisher, for the winning title of this post. Neat.
#buttpucker
I LOVE how this turned out!! Now you and mom need to whip some up for our new house ;-) Props to Scott for the title of the post – what a funny guy! I wish you guys lived closer because I miss you sooooo much and it would be nice to talk without 2 (screaming) kids in the background. Of course, if you lived closer they would be right there in the room with us instead :-)
Wow, your mom’s hands remind me of Grammy’s hands (but like 30 years ago). Someday I will save up some money to get one of those dreamy featherweights, sigh.
I’m flattered to that you think you are exactly like your mother, because I think you are awesome!
The shades look great, even if I do say so myself. I think we’ll be making a few more. Jenny, I bet there’s one of those featherweights that you can have, too. Thanks, Audrey and Scott, for an awesome birthday!
The shades look fantastic! Love how they turned out.
It was nice meeting your parents a couple of weeks ago! Love the shades and I am glad to hear that you like Mary Jo’s. I am in need of fabric store recommendation. Which one do you go to?
@Evelyn: go to Mary Jo’s! It’s in Gastonia, but it has the best selection of fabric anywhere. It’s insane.
Looks great Audrey!
As always, the talent of both you and your mother astounds me. You two have always had creativity flowing from every pore! The shade looks great, but I have to say the best part of this post was the memory of the ketchup bottle! I have the same feeling about being an adult, too…xoxo
Scott thinks everything looks western. I think it looks great and can’t wait to see it in person!! Now that you are an expert on curtains, you and your Singer can help me make some for our living room!