Bedroom Makeover Week Day 2: Designer Fabric Curtains

If you know me, you know I DON'T spend more than $9 per yard on fabric. And anywhere between $6-$9 pains me especially when it needs to be bought in large quantity.

For the curtains I was planning in the bedroom I had a color scheme dilemma that was limiting my selection. My old color scheme (since 2004) was china blue and white. It's a great look but after moving into the house we live in now (in 2007) I realized that those colors mostly look good with a white washed hardwood floor (in my old house). I could have started over with the new bedroom but to save money I stuck with my old stuff and for years it's looked unimpressive and I've lamented it.

I don't know why but I kept the blue and white theme and half way between planning and buying materials I realized it wouldn't work. So I've been trying to inject a couple other palettes into my blue and white scheme. To make matters worse I bought a 600 thread count sheet set in teal. Which as you might think does NOT go with navy blue. And I wasn't going to toss the new sheet set or the new shades. I had to find something to tie it all together.

I found the perfect pattern at Hancock Fabric (see detail above). It had teal, it had green, pink and a hint of navy. Sort of modern oriental. You see. One problem. It was expensive. WAYY more than I wanted to pay. So here's what I did to cut on costs.
My windows were  about 55" long. Add to that curtain rod casing and seam allowance and I needed about 65". Originally I had planned to buy 6 yards and I had 6 curtains to make (not all shown in photos). Since my curtains were going to be solely decorative I could be flexible on width. I was going to cut the yardage in half lengthwise then take those two pieces and cut into thirds.

But my fabric was $17.95 a yard. That would be $108! Here's what I did instead. I bought only 4 yards and instead of cutting the yardage in half lengthwise I cut long strips widthwise. Since the pieces were now too short by about 10" I used navy fabric that I had on hand (but you could buy some broadcloth for $1 a yard) and sewed it to the top of my curtains in 10" pieces. This not only solved my length problem but it also added just enough extra navy to really PULL the color scheme together.
So in the end I only spent $72 instead of $108 and saved $36. Although still WAY more than I wanted to spend on curtains (especially homemade curtains) but I think the investment was worth the sacrifice because every time I walk into the room I feel like I want to stay. It's glorious. Last night Brian and I watched tv in bed for the first time in years, possibly ever. And I promise it's because we enjoy the space again.
Stay tuned either tomorrow or Monday for the headboard tutorial. I still have quite a few changes in store. This is by no means the final result. Oh, I can't wait. The room is gonna sparkle.