Friday, August 19, 2011

The ^#@%^! No-Sew Window Valance Project

Can you tell I was frustrated?!  I think I was frustrated right from the get go, because I was not planning on doing this project.  I went to the States the other day and hit up Joann Fabrics and Crafts, specifically looking for fabric that I could use to finish something I've had on the go for awhile.  I don't know if you've ever been to that store, but they have some beautiful fabrics, far better than anything I could find here.  However, they also have so many!  Not good for someone like me.  Luckily, I was with three friends and I felt pressure since we were headed to the mall, so thanks Steph, Sara and Nora!  :)  I managed to decide which fabric I wanted within about 15 minutes.  Had they not been there, I can pretty much guarantee I would've been there, deciding, for a good 2 hours.

So this was the fabric I chose.  I actually saw this same fabric in blue tones on someone's blog a little while ago and thought it was pretty funky.  They had the exact same fabric that I had seen, but I chose this one because with these colours, the white petals seemed a bit more white than on the blue, and I needed to have some white on the fabric.


At $39.99 per yard, I wouldn't say this fabric was a great deal, especially when you forget coupons and don't want to turn your phone on in the States and get charged ridiculous roaming fees, just to get the coupon you forgot, because you are cheap!  I decided to go with half a yard, because my non-math brain thinks of things in halves and wholes.  I questioned whether half a yard would be enough, but didn't even think to get 3/4 of a yard, or anything larger than just half a yard.  It wasn't enough.  Hence why I decided to do a window valance.

This is what our one kitchen window has looked like since we moved in three years ago.




Just plain, no window covering like all the others have.  I usually do have a little plant sitting in the window, but I removed it when taking the pictures....you know, for effect.

I don't sew, but after looking online and seeing numerous things on Pinterest that use Heat 'N' Bond, I thought, I can do this! 

I started by pinning each side of the fabric, so that the part that would show when hanging would be 15 inches long.




Then, I ironed all of that down, so that I'd have a nice crisp line.


I cut strips of Heat 'N' Bond and followed the instructions to a T, tee??,.  I followed the instructions just the way they said. 



Again, and again, and again.  Heat 'N' Bond was NOT working, AT ALL!




I gave up on that.  Then my husband called and I was telling him what I'd done.  He said he had some double-sided tape in the garage.  I figured it was worth a shot.  The hardest part was getting the paper backing off.


I stuck everything down.


Put the rod through.



It all seemed to be going well and I started bunching it evenly on the rod, since I gave the hubs a choice; bunchy or straight.  He chose bunchy.


And this is where it all started to fall apart.  In the middle section, the fabric part that folded over the rod was shorter than the rest and kept lifting from the tape, so every time I'd try to bunch that section, the tape would get stuck to the rod.  It just wasn't working out. 

So, I decided to hang it up straight and see how that would look.  This was the result.




Right now, it's just folded back, which is why you can see some extra fabric hanging down in the front.  I think it could be worse, but it's definitely not great.  And I won't even say what the hubs said about it.  I am going to take it down, take it to my mama's and sew it there.

Moral of the story; Pinterest = false confidence, right Cougs?!

1 comment:

  1. Ang, that looks fantastic! Never would have thought it was done with tape instead of a sewing machine. Screw thread, I'm totally breaking out the double sided tape, too. ;)

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