Friday 9 November 2012

Vintage Velvet and Ikea ... Thrifty Snippet-y Ways ..Of Course!


Hello there .... 
Has it rained with you?
... I thought it would never stop today ...
mind you it was quite nice sat by the fire sewing ... listening to the wind in the chimney and the rain lash against the windows.

As you can see my Summer curtains are lacy and lightweight.

 I've been a bit remiss in my Winter preparations ... last Spring I decided the winter curtains had about had it ... time for new ones.
Plenty of time ... thought I .. to organise some nice new ones.... well ... where has the time gone?

In my defence I had picked up a pair of lined... wonderfully dark bottle green cotton velvet of Vintage persuasion .... but I had forgotten just where I had put them/or had I sold them? umm..

I Know ... bitten nails!

So late last night I decided to find them ... as you do ... and three cupboards and numerous boxes later ....ta da!
And what a good do ... I just had to shorten them and cut each one in half to make two pairs of curtains for the sitting room windows ... only very small cottage-y windows. 



 I sat in front of the fire and just hemmed the required bits ... I just left the header tape where it was ... and well did very little really.
The curtains were nice and clean .. they still had a dry cleaning label attached ...dated 1976.


All nice and cosy!

So nice to work with good quailty old fabric .... I can't remember where I found them.
But they will have a good home ... and I have some fabric left to make up into cushions ... if I ever get around to it. 

 On the flip side of the coin ... as it were..... Hubby P ambled in the other day with these under his arm.

Bright and cheerful!
 Now it must be said that Hubby P has been well trained in the field of ...'Fabric and Notions Acquisition'...
In that he .. 1) must never.. ever just 'bin' anything that is old/tatty/damaged etc if it is remotely fabric like.
                        
                               2) must always put aside any tins/boxes/bags etc with 
                                      'sewin-y stuff' in them.

                       and 3) just show me everything ....just in case!

So it was the other day with the cushions ... 'this anything... any good ... bit damaged'...says he.
Well what a jolly pair ... nice and bright and cheerful. 
At first I thought they had been made by someone .... you know ... new to sewing ... just learning ... not expertly made by any means.
But on closer inspection ...and discovering a label I found they were no other than Ikea ...at its best?
 Shameful really .... and I bet they would have cost a pretty penny.

Anyway the fabric was pretty although some of it was damaged ... looked like a cat or dog had had a good time with one cushion.
I unpicked the end of one thinking I would save the cushion inner and launder and save the pretty fabric. 
However Ikea don't even run to cushion inners ... it was simply stuffed with loose wadding.
 

Well ... no matter ... I will bag up the wadding and keep it for stuffing things or make some cushion inners
And I got a good piece of fabric and a dog chewed bit that can be used for my patchwork.

So a nice new bit of cotton for my stash .... 

That's been me today ... I'm quite pleased I got the new curtains up... whats been keeping you busy?  

xx



10 comments:

  1. Those curtains will really keep the winter out, and the fabric is in such good condition considering its age.I wish we had small windows they always look so cosy.

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  2. The curtains were worth the effort as they look so cosy at the window. The amethyst looks beautiful next to the velvet green colour.
    Wendy

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  3. I love the curtains, I rather fancied some velvet curtains in red this winter but as I have three huge windows in my living room I'm thinking I might have to save a few more pennies first :-) Not that I mind the odd draught, I just put another jumper on and throw another log on the fire :-) I had a tree fall down in my field last year and the logs are still going strong Kay x

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  4. what fun! I'm trying to finish hand quilting a hexy quilt for when Mum comes to stay!

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  5. I adore your curtains. I wish they were on my windows!!!

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  6. I have a piece of that velvet upstairs from our front door in our second house in England, the exact same colour. We don't have curtains up in this house, as we live in the country and no one can see in.

    Gill

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  7. Those are a current design in Ikea I think, we went the other day for the first time in years and they had lots of nice cushions. maybe they were thrown out because the dog got them.

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  8. Velvet ??
    AND bottle green velvet ??
    Ooooh, I am in Love !!
    Your curtains look so cozy and able to keep the cold at bay.
    Here I have drug out both heaters-one for the bedroom & the other for my living/sitting room. I've hung flannel sheet curtains across un-used doors to keep the heat in. Got all my fleece blankies/throws washed and folded ready to drag out when necessary.
    My yarn baskets are topped off.
    Sure sounds like I'm settled in for the duration !?!
    xoxo

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  9. The curtains are beautiful! And I see a very pretty scene peeking through the window alongside the draperies.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog!

    sandy ;)

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  10. Love the curtains! Couldn't help noticing your gorgeous Geodes too!
    The one on the left is Amethyst, what is the one on the right?
    Love the crystals dangling in the window too.
    Sandie xx

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