Divine DIY...

No one would say I am a "Candice Olsen" or "Monica Pedersen"....

They are hot blondes and HGTV divas extraordinaire...

 Last time I checked, I was neither...

These ladies are able to create rooms of beauty 

out of the air, and in Monica's case, 

with very little cash...

By the way, we were almost featured on HGTV's  "Design on a Dime" once...  

Note the word ALMOST...  

Yeah, that is a story of rejection for another day...

Back to fixing up your house for pennies...

Given that we are possibly renting out our apartment unit 

and maybe the whole house, furnished, 

I am on a mad dash to repair, repaint and restyle.... 

On a dime!

There is basically no money in the budget to do much of anything,  

which is why I have undertaken the task 

of painting the whole house myself....  

ugh...  

I just finished painting the apartment walls, 

so at least that is out of the way...  

But the real reason I am rejoicing today 

is that one of my hair brained diy projects actually worked!  

While at Home Depot the other day, 

picking up supplies for painting, 

I bought a canvas drop cloth.  

I noticed that it was heavy and natural colored 

instead of white. 

I started imagining cool slipcovers

  and shabby chic pillows when lightning struck....  

What if I made these puppies into drapes?  

The apartment has a large window 

with a nice drapery pole installed and no drapes.  

It looked kind of empty and sad...  

But uncheesy drapes are not inexpensive...  

When we bought our house ten years ago, 

the seller wanted twenty, 

yes, 20 thousand dollars for the drapes alone... 

We laughed and said, "Take them!".  

They sighed and left them... 

Anyway, my thought was to buy a long dropcloth, 

in this case 6 x 9 feet, 

sew in a rod pocket, 

trim it out and voila!   

Usually my projects involve some sort 

of ingredient or element not easily found, 

or a tool that I don't have, etc.  

Well, by some sort of home design miracle, 

the drapes were easy to construct, 

my trim choice worked 

and they look awesome, if I say so myself!  

From start to finish, all supplies cost a total of $35.00.  

How's that for a nice pair of drapes?  

I like the canvas drop cloth because 

it is a nice, heavy weight, 

the fabric does block out some light 

and all edges are finished...  

Here is how I made them...

1. Measure the height of your window/position of the drapery rod and choose the appropriate sized drop cloth.  If the cloth is too short, this is an opportunity for you to add a hem panel in a fun fabric.  I would choose something that is the same weight as the canvas.

2. Grab your 40% off coupons and head to the craft store.  Buy beige thread and a fun trim.  Make sure you get enough.  My drop cloths were nine feet long and I added a yard for good measure, so the total was seven yards of trim.  My trim was $4.99/yd and at 40% off, a steal!  Be cognizant of the thickness of the trim.  Remember, you have to sew this stuff onto canvas.

3. Okay, you are ready to start!  Fold over the short side of the fabric enough to be roomy for the drapery rod to slide through.  My drapery rod was skinny, so I folded the canvas over three (3) inches.  Pin to hold in place.  Sew along the edge, making sure to anchor each end well.

 

4.  Now to add the trim!  Take a look at your two panels and make sure that the trim is placed on different sides so that they frame the window.  If it's late at night when you do this, have someone check your work.  Ripping out stitches at 10 pm is akin to having a root canal.    Pin the trim to the front of the panels and then sew on.  Go slowly...the machine is sewing through thick fabric and trim.

Hang up your drapes and admire your handiwork!  

Even T$ was impressed by the drapes.  

I love them so much I think 

I am going to make another one 

for one of the apartment bedrooms.  

I plan to trim the hem with three layers of gathered muslin...

This project was fun, quick and cheap chic!!