Today was not the best of days. I had an audition, which never fails to freak me out. I don’t get stage fright, and I love to perform, it’s the being judged (a necessary part of an audition!) that never fails get to me. Whenever someone comments on the arrogance of actors and musicians I usually say: A. You’re right and B: Seriously, it’s a coping mechanism. It’s like a life full of never ending job interviews.
But eh… I’ll live. To cheer myself up I went to my new favorite restaurant (Tom and Chee – an entire restaurant of grilled cheese sandwiches!) Afterwards I was happy to find that my linen fabric samples had arrived:
I ordered these samples from fabrics-store.com. They specialize in linen and they send free swatches on request. The price was great for the quality. I decided on plain linen for the large curtain in my living room, but I needed to pick a color. I decided on the middle color above, which is called simply “natural.” The other shades are (right to left) aluminum, bleached, natural, krista, and mix natural. All swatches are the IL019 medium weight linen. I’d consider the weight to be comprable to Kauffamn Essex linen. It’s not heavy, but I think it will drape nicely for me (I am lining my curtains anyway!) I had to order 8 yards to get the fullness I prefer (2x the width of the window). You can see why I was trying to keep costs down!
I also ordered fabric from fabric.com to make simple tie top cafe curtains for my hall.
The pattern I’m using I found at Make it Love it (you can see their finished curtains in the photo above). The fabrics are by Michael Miller. I love those charcoal and pink dala horses, called Wooden Horses, to death! They will be the main curtain, and the top/ties will be made of the wood block print behind, also by Michael miller. I’m going to fully line these curtains. Thank you for all the advice – I decided that I agreed making the long curtains from quilting cotton might not work, but it’s perfect for a small hallway window!
I’m starting to put the living room back together – I have a rug!
Leon the cat, as you can see, is helping to break it in by shedding furiously. This is a flat woven cotton rug from Ikea. I am planning to paint a design on this rug using fabric medium – I like the white, but it’s not practical around him. I still don’t have anything else in the room, but I’m working on it! This project has been intensive, but I’m so much happier already that it’s worth the stress.
Green apples - Stitchywitch Creates 
exciting! are you using that same pattern for the full curtains you’re lining too? And will you be lining with? 🙂
I used a very similar colour linen for our bedroom. Our windows are 3m wide and I used 6m in width to acheive a lovely full drape. The fabric is perfect as it lets light in but shields at the same time. It was really expensive as linen in Australia is $50/m but it was worth it and they still look lovely 3 years on. Make sure you do french seams so they’re nice on the other side. It is worth it.
Going to put this artclie to good use now.
I’m really enjoying your living room redo posts. The linen curtains will be lovely! I used to freak out in the little county singing competitions I did in school. I can’t imagine the stress of doing it full time!
I bought 12 yards of a waverly print to make drapes for my living room, almost 5 years ago. I’m so used to not having any drapes I don’t really want to make them now, but it will make the room look more finished. That and finally hanging the art on the walls.
I LOVE that horse fabric!! So will my daughter, if I show it to her. And I agree with you about auditions, although I DO get stage fright. You’re lucky you don’t. It happens when I’m soloing, too – the only way I made it through the Allegri abellamenti last season was because I take Lexapro regularly and I took a beta blocker beforehand. Better living through chemicals 🙂 I hadn’t thought about ego being a coping mechanism before, but maybe you’re right. Can’t wait to see those horse curtains when you’re done. I’m off to see if that fabric comes in yellow.
Am I interpreting correctly that the grey paint in the bottom photo (with the rug and the cat) is Revere Pewter? I’ve been looking for the right grey for my living room and the first sample I tried was way too blue.
Yes, that’s Revere Pewter! In natural light it is a warm gray,and it looks either gray or slightly brown under artificial light (we use halogens and cool fluorescent bulbs, and it looks gray). I love the color. It’s not blue at all. BTW, if you are ever looking for a dark color to use with it I found that BM Iron Mountain works really well (revere pewter is one of the historical colors, so it doesn’t have similar shades listed).
I know this is totally off-topic, but months ago I had asked you for tips/advice on sewing knits without a serger. I finally took the plunge today and made a simple top, and it turned so much better than I expected it to, and really wasn’t so scary at all! My hems aren’t quite perfect but otherwise I’m happy with it.
What your cat is doing our dogs have done to the couch. Our furry families leave their mark on everything!
Those really are very cute patterns! And of course Leon is going to help you break in the rug. He’ll be making biscuits on it next.