There’s nothing wrong with stripes. They’re classic, crisp, and go with almost anything. But, if you’re looking to add some visual interest and pattern to your space, you’ll love how easy it is to turn simple striped fabric into fresh geometric patterns.

I started with fabric that I had used to decorate our very first townhouse. After we moved, I stowed it away for a few years, waiting for the right project. (My people don’t like to be called hoarders, just so you know.) Now, these traditional stripes have new life as modern geometric pillows in our family room!

I followed these instructions for sewing the pillows.  I usually like to make my pillow covers with velcro closures, so I can easily change the covers, but I wasn’t going to mess with all those stripes!

By the way, these pillows are the product of month one of our Creativity Circle. A lot of everyday things (colds, sleepovers, birthdays, baby meltdowns) kept some of our friends from joining this month, but Ari (from Revolving Decor) and I both got a great start on our pillow projects, as well as a healthy dose of girl talk!

Hoping next month is even more fun!

“Jewels”

I just love the look of Roman shades, like the ones in the little boys’ room, which I trimmed in ribbon.

We needed those functional shades for the bedroom, but in other places, a fixed shade works just as well, like this one in our master bath. For our updated family room, I wanted the look of Roman shades, but I didn’t need the function.  These new shades I made are fixed, meaning you can’t raise or lower them.  It works for our location, since the windows face a private area and are shielded from direct sun by greenery.

To make my decorative shades, I adapted this tutorial from Kate aka Centsational Girl.

These instructions are for making shades from existing curtain panels I had.  Kind of long story, but I used to hang floor-length panels at these windows, and with the new built-ins (so much anticipation! I will show them to you soon!), the panels don’t fit, so these fixed shades are the perfect solution.  The other windows in this room are actually tall French doors, so the new shades make these windows look like they’re much taller and match the height of the doors.

I started with curtain panels that were 45″ wide x 95″ long, and I made finished shades that are 24.5″ high and 39″ wide.

First, I cut off the hems on the sides, to give a panel that is 41″ wide and unfinished on the sides.  I ironed a 1″ hem along each side.

I then folded the panel in half lengthwise, so I had a 47.5″ high doubled panel.  I sewed the back and front together on three sides, leaving about 2″ open at the top, which creates a sleeve to hang on the curtain rod.

Next, I figured out where I wanted my folds and marked these with chalk. I stitched the front and back pieces together at the top of the folds, where it would not be visible. For my shades, this was at 10 1/2 inches and 27 1/2 inches from the bottom.

I tacked the folds in place by hand-stitching at the sides and roughly every 7″ along the back.

Finally, I slipped the new shades onto our curtain rods, and there they are! (I wish I had made them a smidgen wider, to fill the curtain rod, but I’m not going back…).

“Jewels”