Drop the Cloth and Back Away…

Ta Da!  Check out the new drapes.  “What’s so special about these drapes?” you ask.  Well, I’ll tell you.  If you venture on Pinterest at all, you will have seen countless examples of paint drop cloths transformed into art.  I tried to do that. The Pinterest inspiration for me was the pink fork and knife someone painted on their drapes.  Perhaps you saw them yourself.

If you follow me for any length of time, you will be assured that you are dealing with someone in love with whimsy. And colour.  And frugality.  Always.  So here’s my take on those things.

  These “before” drapes barely cover the fact that the big black BBQ is old and ugly, and although we have a private backyard, I didn’t like the fact that you could see in the house if it was dark out and the lights were on inside.  Unfortunately, one too many horror movies have made their way into this over-imaginative brain….

  Here’s how it went down.  I purchased a $14.00 drop cloth for hallways from The Home Depot.  The French doors are only around 4′ wide each, so I didn’t need much width.

      I laid it out, keeping it in half vertically,  folded it in half again horizontally and cut it in the middle.  I didn’t worry too much about how straight it was since I’d be “hemming” the panels anyway.  I say “hemming” because as a poser seamstress I feel using sewing terminology gives you the wrong impression of my skill set. Just keeping it real, people.

  I taped off the edge for a stripe. I’m no fool, I know when BBQ sauced hands grab the drapes they will sully that canvas panel in no time flat.  I am so not interested in washing these that much.  As a matter of fact, I noticed that a lot of the directions for drop cloth transformations called for washing the cloth first. Why? beats me. So I didn’t.

  Here’s my inspiration, taken directly off my great wall of China.  I love it so.

Fork.    Knife.

I copied a real- life knife, but drew an imaginary handle. Isn’t copying awesome? Just modify it till you like it!

Paint it.

  Peppertree, by Glidden paint (the kitchen accent wall colour), with accents of white, black and gold.

Once that was done, I pulled out all the stops and inserted grommets.  Do NOT be intimidated by these things.  Super easy directions to follow, taking no time at all.  The hardest part was figuring where they should go and how many I’d need.  Remember, math and I are not on speaking terms.

  Next I hung the drapery panels up and saw how they fell and how long they were, to decide on how much “hemming” was needed.  I prefer drapes to just touch the floor…not too short, not too long, just right.  Thanks for the gauge, Goldilocks.

Get yourself some of this iron on hem stuff and you will love “sewing” again.     The green tape is my version of basting….I did actually fold over and iron down a double edge for a cleaner, tidy-er look – I’m not a complete savage, and I ironed out the creases where needed.

  And that’s it!

You can keep the design simpler by just doing stripes, random polka dots (trace cups, bowls etc.), paint splatter or a graphic stencil all over or just around the border. There are so many options.  You could actually sew fabric of your choice for the hem or border.  If  you hate them when you’re done, just revert them back to what they were originally made for. No major loss there.

*Readers – if you try this project, or any other project you have seen on this blog, please let me know and I will link my post to yours.  We can share readers!  Yay, sharing!