DIY Victorian Curtains - Burgundy, Antique White

For the living room, I made this burgundy/dark red curtain out of silk with a lace valance. My couch is also a deep burgundy color, and all my kitchen items are either black or crimson red, so the color ties in well with the rest of the apartment as well.

It is not too difficult to make this curtain. I used 3 yards of burgundy silk, measured my windows and cut to the length and width I wanted. To have the nice folded effect, cut the curtain width to 1 and a half times the actual width of the window.

Then sew up the sides and bottom edges of the curtain.You will also need to sew a 3 inch line under the top to allow to put in a curtain rod. To add the valance, line up the lace to the top of the curtain, and sew first at the top, then at the line just made for the curtain rod. The lace of the valance can be finished or unfinished. I finished the sides and top with a hem, and left the bottoms free edged.

For the bedroom, my husband desired a calming effect, so I decided to a similar style curtain in antique white to have a more romantic goth feel. It seems a little too peaceful (boring) for my taste, so I am going to add a dark or embroidered overlay in the future. However, until I have time and money for another trip to the fabric store, this will have to do.

The bedroom curtains are made in a similar method as the living room curtains, but I choose a crushed satin in antique white and antique white lace. I also decided to add the lace valance a few inches from the top of the crushed satin, so a litle sunlight can come in as the room has the least light coming in, and I hate blasting tons of lights, which does a number on my light bill as well as the environment.

The Thin Line between Crafting and Hoarding Fabric & Notions

Today I am de-cluttering my trim and fabric stash, which amounts to two large plastic bins. I know it is a whole lot, and I admit that I have a hoarding problem with fabric. De-cluttering the bins is turning out to be a laborious task as most of my clutter has been fabric I have saved from items for which I did not like the style and tons of lace. I have lots of pieces of fabrics that can be added to items, but cannot make a whole skirt or top. I also have a huge stash of white lace because I figured I can add them as trim to my black clothing. However, whenever I wear something black with a white trim, it looks lolita goth, which I find cute, but which is not really my style. Larger white lace trims even make me feel like I look like a maid or waitress. I have only trimmed my clothing with black or red lace. 

My mom sews a lot, and I have decided to give her most of my silk stash and also some lace. She said she would take the silk as silk is costly, but I am not sure if she will take the lace.  In any case, when you are giving away things to people that you thought were useful, it gives perspective as I realize that a lot of the lace and fabric are too small for her to make something with.  I also do not want to give her things she cannot use as she tends to hoard fabric also, although she sews a lot more than I do. Since I have not used them in 1 to 2 years, I am no longer kidding myself and realize that I probably won't use them in the future, especially since my time is limited now. So, I have decided to just throw them out because they cannot be donated or given away. It feels wasteful because I know people have to buy lace and fabric, but these little pieces are just not useful. I know no one who would buy little scraps like this.

Well, humble lesson learned...instead of cutting out lace from shirts and dresses to feel like I am not being wasteful by donating or throwing away the item, I just wasted time and even prevented another person from being able to purchase it and use it from the thrift store. 

For those crafters and sewers out there, I do hope you learn from my less and do not save fabric or trim unless you have a specific purpose in mind for it, not a potential project that does not already exist in some way.  

Well, back to the de-cluttering. I hope to be left with half of a bin when I am done donating items to my mom and throwing things away. After that, I am going to do projects with the fabric pieces in less than a month. Otherwise, all the stash is going, except my black and red lace trims and corset which I add to new clothing on an ongoing basis, as I can't afford the more pricey goth items in gothic clothing stores, and because I like the creative outlet of sewing and making unique things.

DIY Skinny Jeans: Upcycle Alteration from Bootcut, Wide leg

Project: Alter Bootcut, Wide leg or Flared Jeans/Pants into Skinny or Slim fit Straight Leg
Difficulty Level: Easy
Time: 20 - 40 minutes


Ever had or saw a sale on a pair of jeans or pants that fit great on the hips or seat (the hardest place to find a good fit for a woman or even a guy who likes fitted jeans), but disliked the fit of the legs? Perhaps you have jeans in your closet that you never wear because the legs are too wide. No need to send them to the landfill. Sometimes donation doesn't go directly to those who need it, but to organizations that sell the items and profit. Or maybe, like myself, you are on a budget.

Here's a 20-30 minute tutorial on how to alter them to make them skinny or straight leg.

Pre-altered jeans:

Step One:

Turn the jeans inside out and mark with chalk. I usually don't measure and just average as I have been sewing for 7 years, but if you are new or unsure, make sure you follow this step.  Since I do not measure, I made a rough estimation with the chalk marks, but if you are new, draw a straighter line with the help of a ruler.

I drew two lines to show how to alter to skinny jeans or straight leg. Straight legs are also slim fitting, but they do not taper at the ankle. Notice also that I drew the line from a few inches above the knee to the bottom of the pants.  This is because it is already fitted in the thigh area. If your jeans or pants are loose in the thigh area, you would have to extend the line upwards to that region.


Step 2:

After you mark the jean, sew a straight stitch (the most basic stitch, which looks like a vertical line on the sewing machine) like below.

Step 3

Then, try on the pants. If if they fit well, then sew a second straight stitch over the first one. Use a damp towel and rub off the chalk. If the legs are too loose, sew inside the line or mark the line more towards the inside and sew it.

Step 4 

After you have sewn your second stitch to reinforce the first one, then cut out the excess fabric, leaving 1/2 to 1 cm of fabric from the stitch.  Then, sew a serging stitch or if you are lucky enough to own a serger.

[Caveat: A serger is a separate machine that costs up to $700, which I cannot afford in addition to my Singer automatic sewing machine which cost $500. My first 2 sewing machines were Brother brand, and they were about $250 each, but there were always problems with the thread tension and other things, so it was worth spending more to get the Singer. I have not had any problems with it to date. It has automatic threading and tread tension.]

After you sew the serged stitch, cut off any excess or hanging threads.

Below is the stitch I use on the machine as well as the actual stitch on the pant. The serged stitch not only makes the pant alteration look neater and more professional, but it also prevents fraying of the cloth and an additional reinforced stitch.

Here is the final product turned right side up:

Here I am wearing the jeans. The bottom appears ruched because I kept them a few inches long to fall over my boots. I may end up altering them to a more skinny tapered look to wear with high boots, but this current alteration is very versatile. I don't wear shoes in my home, so I am not wearing them here.

DIY - Victorian goth curtain decor / Upcycling

Project: Victorian curtains
Difficulty: Medium
Time: 2 hours for a set of curtains 

I made these curtains two weeks ago, but I forgot to put the pictures of it up.

I used the linings of 2 pants for the valance and 6 yards of silver grey fabric for each curtain. I wanted a black curtain, but there is so little sunlight that gets in through our window, especially in the fall in NY, so a gauzy grey worked better.

Measure your window, cut the fabric and sew hems along both sides and the bottom. Then sew a stitch half inch from the top. Then, sew another stitch two inches away from that one or 3 inches from the top. This is to put in the curtain rod.

Now for the harder part, the valance:

Cut the lining out of a pant.

Remove all lining seams except the middle seam that joins the two pieces of cloth together.

Cut the lining into a rectangular shape. Use a ruler if necessary to get a straight fabric. Sew hems on all four corners. Then sew on tassels to it equidistant from each other.

Sew 4 rouches equidistant from each other.

Sew valance below the bottom curtain rod stitch of the grey curtain. You can see the line where the two pieces of fabric are sewn together here, but it is not noticeable when hung up. No one has noticed it, and they have complimented me on it.

Valances can be very expensive running from at least $15 up to $50 each, but they do make a difference in look as you can see. If you are on a budget like me and know how to sew and have some time, it is worth the effort to make them.

The final products.