Sew wrong.

I had a curtain incident Monday night.

Our kitchen window is really bare... and while I like the light coming in, I do think we need SOMETHING there to soften all the fake wood paneling we've got going on. So I looked at all the pre-made curtains and didn't like a single one. Sew boring!!! So I decided I would make something from scratch! I found a really cute fabric shower curtain that would do the trick. It's a brown and white "toile like" pattern, but the birds in the pattern are blue. I got it at Target...

Adorable!

Well it's been sitting in a closet for weeks... just waiting for me to rip it in half and sew a straight line. Monday night I decided to get down to it. So I dragged it out, measured the window, and marked the fabric. Now where are my GOOD scissors? HHhmmmm......

That proved to be my first task. I could not find my sewing scissors for the life of me. I think they got "recycled" to the garage when it was clear I was not doing much sewing in my free time. So I had to make do with regular scissors that we use to cut ribbon, wrapping paper, wires, tags off of shirts, photos, gum out my hair - you get the picture. A true seamstress will tell you that you should "always cut fabric with a pair of very very sharp sewing scissors that are used for nothing else in the house." Why? Well I'll tell you why... As I found out Monday night, dull scissors will shred your fabric as you try to cut it!! So there I was on the floor with 2 pieces of fabric successfully cut, but both ends looking like they had fancy fringe attached.

Then I set up the sewing machine that I got at a garage sale 2 years ago (and have yet to use). This was my second disappointment of the night. Either I was threading it the wrong way, or the thread was so old it was breaking; I ended up with what looked like a nice straight line on the top of the fabric but when I flipped it over it was one long knot! Completely stumped on how to fix that - I ripped it all out and decided to hand sew it.

After God-knows-how-long that took me, I was FINALLY ready to just hang that dang thing up there!! The hem looked terrible but at this point, 3 hours into my project, I was ready to hang up my dull scissors and go to bed. So I found the tension rod that I intended to use that was re purposed from a different window..... threaded the curtain and went to the kitchen window and........................ the rod was too short!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I only needed 2 more inches. Totally frustrated, I threw the entire contraption into the guest bedroom, poured myself a BIG glass of wine, and vowed to buy pre made curtains from here to eternity. There's a reason they sell them in the store.