Saturday, September 18, 2010

Shabby Chic Curtains Part 3

On my curtains for the corner cabinet dollhouse I used "Scottie's Guide To Bauernmalerei Bavarian Folk Art Book 1" by Scottie Foster. I used her "flick leaves" and "dot daisy". Her instructions are excellent and if you do as she says, holding your brush according to her instructions you will be successful. I do not paint often, when I do I go back and follow her instructions and I am most happy with the results. She has another book, "Scottie's Bavarian Doll Haus with Decorated Furniture" using the Bodo Hennig doll furniture to paint on.

For this project I just used a small brush, 20/0 pointed round to do all of
the painting.

I made 6 lines for the petals of the flowers with a yellow dot for the center. Black dots finish off the design.
For the center 2 panels I made them with no points, you could substitute with with a single center pointed panel instead.

Leave the paint to dry.









Trim the scallops with a pair of small sharp scissors.












You have to sew the casing in. I "chain my panels. This is a technique quilters use. There is no stopping and starting after each panel.
First sew the bottom edge down, sew close to the raw edge. Sew the first panel, when you are near the end push the second panel in right behind the first. Continue to do this with all of the panels.
Hint: Lay the panels out in order wrong side up so you will grab the right one each time.





This is what you will have after the first seam.

Sew in the second seam the same way, it's easier now that they are all ready connected.

Remember the size of rod you have determines the casing size.









For this project I have used an 1/8 inch dowel. I used files and sandpaper to shape the ends. If you do use a straight wooden rod, a little glue on the back side at the ends helps to keep the curtains on.

Threading the panels on can be tedious and I use small tweezers to help me do it.






To shape the panels I pin the curtains to my ironing board and use tweezers to curl and hold the sides as I steam them in. Please be careful, don't burn your hands.












After I am done and the curtains are the way I want them I will spray them with a clear finish, glossy, satin or mat, it doesn't matter. This helps to keep the shape over time.

I did not use the Pretty Pleater. I did try this out for these but it used so much fabric and I didn't want that look. I just wanted an informal little curtain.

End of Part 3

And I am back to the half scale furniture!! TTYL Kris