Drop Cloth Curtains with Toile Trim

May 30, 2012

Hey! So, have you heard about how you can use Drop Cloths for something other than tossing them on the floor while you paint a room?
No, seriously folks!

You can use them for pillows, tablecloths, runners and even curtains!

Oh wait…what’s that you say?
You already know that?
Everyone has been doing this for years and I’m just now getting on board the

“Drop Cloth Bandwagon”?

Oh man!

And here I thought I was being all cool and trendy!

Well, I may not be the first person to do it, but better late than never right?

For some time now, I’ve been wanting to make a change to the drapes in my family room, breakfast nook and kitchen.

They have served me well for the last 4 years but I was ready to lighten and brighten a bit.

But, I wasn’t ready to spend a lot of cash-ola!

So, I thought I would give the old “drop cloth as curtains” trick a go.

My only problem was that I really wanted them to have some kind of decorative detail to give them some extra “umph”. And that led to another problem.

I originally wanted to fold over the tops and add fringe to the hem but 2 yards of fringe per panel was going to cost me A LOT and totally defeat the purpose of having this be a budget friendly project.

Soooooooo….I thought and I thought and I hemmed and I hawed and I huffed and I puffed and I blew the house down…oh wait, that’s another story.

But, on one of my many trips to the fabric store desperately trying to find the perfect fringe on clearance, I stumbled across a gorgeous remnant of toile fabric.

I’m a sucker for toile. It calls out to me. It knows I love it so.

And at $12 for 4 yards I was SOLD!

It was a match made in toile heaven.

Mr. Drop Cloth, meet Miss Toile.

He may seem a bit rough around the edges at first. But after a nice bubble bath and spin in the dryer, he’ll just soften right up.

Don’t they make a lovely couple?

Sorry.

I’m weird.

I know.

Ahem….

So, I figured out that I would have enough toile to give each panel a 3 inch flange edge.

I doubled that to allow for folding it in half which meant I cut each strip 6 inches wide.

The length was the same as the length of drop cloth I needed for each panel.

I was feeling rebellious against my sewing machine so I decided to use this little rolled up bit of genius instead. Ahhhh…Stich Witchery…you really are quite magical.

Each fabric edge was folded in half and the fusible web strips were then placed on the inside to create a “hem”.

Then, they were fused together with the iron per the instructions on the package.

This also created a nice crisp outer edge which is what will be visible on the curtains.

Is this all as clear as mud?

Turn your drop cloth panel over so that you are working with the “wrong side”.

Place your fabric edge along the seam of the drop cloth and fuse them together using the Stitch Witchery. This isn’t hard but it is time consuming. Drop cloths are so thick that you have to apply a lot of pressure to get the fusible webbing to really attach.

And, of course, it’s all in the details right?

So, be sure to finish off the bottom by creating a nice “hem”.

So, are you ready for a little Before meets After?

Well here ya go!

Family Room BEFORE:

Family Room AFTER:

The toile trim really ties in perfectly with the other accessories in the room.

Breakfast Nook BEFORE:

Breakfast Nook AFTER:

Ahhhhhh….

I love the nubbiness (that’s a word right?) of the drop cloth and how it has a linen quality about it.

In the kitchen, I decided to just completely give in to my love for the toile and let it stand on it’s own as simple panels on either side of my corner windows.

Kitchen windows BEFORE:

Kitchen windows AFTER:

This corner seems so much more open and spacious now.

Sigh…toile…if loving you this much is wrong, I don’t want to be right!

So, there you have it.

I finally made something out of drop cloths.

Look out folks!

Who knows what might be next?

Has anyone made a drop cloth toga yet?

source

Hmmmm….now there’s a thought!

Thanks so much for joining me at the Fence today,

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