Posted by Ethne~
My best friend (from 2 doors down growing up!!) Slags and
her husband BC are expecting their first child together, a girl, in
January! I am thrilled to pieces so
first things first I offered to host a baby shower for her – coming up December
1st. Shaun designed the
invitation using the nursery and shower theme – OWLS! So cute. I’ll
post more about the shower and the cute things I’m making for her gifts ~ soon!
Slags and I went shopping at Pottery Barn Baby a few months
back and found the bedding set she eventually chose for Baby C’s nursery. So cute! She’s having the cushions of the glider rocker and footstool
reupholstered in a neutral tan color, so she asked me to make a coordinating
window valance. Of course!
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| Holy cuteness! |
We have December 1st as our deadline, since the
shower is actually at Slags’ house, but with Thanksgiving in the mix, we had to
squeeze our schedules to buy fabric (the day we went and met Grizz’s baby, L)
and sewing was tonight!
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| This is one of my fave pics of Slags. Isn't Baby C lucky to have such a gorgeous momma? |
We purchased two yards of fabric and with JoAnn’s coupon and
her teacher’s discount, the cost for fabric and thread were under $13!
Sewing a valance is pretty easy. We wanted to use the full two yards across, so we did not
need to cut the fabric length-wise.
Upon measuring, we determined that we wanted to cut off about 6” to get
us to the right length of the valance.
Standard width of fabric is 45”, which means we trimmed the fabric down
to 39” wide by 2 yards long.
Trim the ends so that everything is square and clean, and
fold over the sides (39” ends) twice to about a ½” seam and sew down with as
narrow a stitch to the edge as you can get. Do this on both sides.
Next fold the full length of the fabric in half, right sides
together, and sew it on the loose end, with a ½” seam, making a long tube of
fabric. To stop with fraying, I
went over the edges of this ½” seam with my machine’s zig-zag stitch.
Now you can turn the valance tube right side out. Iron the valance smoothe, with the seam
you’ve just sewn marking the top of the piece. Once finished, lay the valance on a flat surface and pin in
several places, just so the layers do not shift around when you make your final
sewing lines in a few minutes.
The first of my final sewing lines was to the bottom of the
piece – the opposite end of the seam I just sewed. I sewed a 3” hem by placing a large piece of masking tape 3”
parallel from the right center point of my sewing machine needle. This way, as I fed the valance through
my machine, I could just simply guide it along the tape and I knew I had an
exact 3” sewing line. Perfectly
straight!
I made the other 3” line on the side of the original
seam. This creates the ‘pocket’
for the curtain rod to slide into.
Same instructions with the masking tape.
One more trip along the ironing board and we were ready to
hang it up. Isn’t it adorable! Slags bought a double-rod set and
intends to get some flowy panels to hang behind the valance; there are blinds
in place already to cut out light at naptime! More nursery ideas were hatched tonight, but you’ll just
have to wait and see because we haven’t done them yet!
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| I am in love, and with some gauzy, flowy sheers behind, won't it be dreamy in Baby C's room? |
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| Cell phone pan doesn't give the best range - but I promise to give better pic updates after the shower! |
Can’t wait for the shower next month – and to meet baby C in
January!
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