Recently, I shared some curtains on my Kitsch Designs Instagram account that I put up in our hall bath upstairs.  I like to share some of the crazy things I find in thrift stores on that account and one day I came across this fabric….

It’s called Cleone and it’s by Nate Berkus.  You can find it in the Home Decor area at Joann’s and typically it’s about $25.00 a yard.  It’s a nice heavy cotton, but not too heavy for curtains.  I found about a yard at one of my local thrifty spots for $.99.  Yes, that’s right 99 cents!  I was excited about this find not only because I was able to show people that not all thrift store finds are old junk, but also because I had been looking for something to use in our hall bath.

Years ago I had deconstructed a kitchen hand towel to make a funky cafe curtain and valance for that bath.  You can view that project here.  At that time I was making due with the space I had because it was way down on the priority list for a redo.  Fast forward several years and I finally got around to remodeling that bathroom.  However, I had yet to figure out the window treatment situation.

I did buy some fabric on sale at one point, thinking it would be a quick fix, but then that project lingered at the bottom of the list and in order to get us back in that space I just put up the old curtain for privacy.  Flash forward another couple of years and I rearranged the bedrooms upstairs to better accommodate the needs of our growing kiddos and my son decided he wanted that same fabric for his bedroom curtains.  Since I had already used the same color pallet in his room as the hall bath I decided to spare him having to share the same curtain fabric too.

So, one afternoon I just took some measurements and finally made the cuts needed to create a simple valance and half curtain.

When I come this point in sewing, making and crafting I often get frustrated about how long it took me to just dive in and get things done.  I’m always worried about messing up (see my other post on making curtains).

This time, I guess because the fabric was so cheap, I not only dove in with both feet, but I was able to figure out a quick change of plans to make the amount of fabric work in the space.

As I was cutting the portion for the valance I realized the length was going to come up short, but I had enough leftover from cutting to make up the difference.  So, I pieced in a section along the mid-point, with the pattern turned to the perpendicular and made it work.  Not only did I get the length needed, but it made for a much more interesting valance.  At least, I think!

I am so happy with the outcome.  The room looks lighter and new again and I feel like a fool for waiting so long. Although, this time my procrastination paid off with a cool and inexpensive fabric find!

Have you spruced up any spaces in your home lately?

Thanks for reading!  Erika

PS- As per the norm, my photography mimics CSI work and you can see that I do not have a clue about getting a good pic of a bright window.  Please just bare with me.  ;o) Thanks!