Sew-Sew Progress

We made some progress on the sewing room on Saturday. We pulled up the carpet (hooray!), James put down some gray goop to level uneven places in the subfloor, I hung the curtains, and I made and hung the valences.

Here's the gray goop. The flooring I ordered should come this week.

First, I hung the old valences to see if I wanted to make mine this size. James thought I should just leave the old ones up, but this is not the theme I have in mind.

Next, I got out the valence fabric (It still makes me happy.) and computed how I should cut it.

Then, I cut off the selvages.

Recently, I've become fascinated by quilts (and other items) made from fabric selvages. I was always taught to cut selvages off and throw them away, since they are woven more tightly and may cause the fabric itself to pucker after washing and drying. Now they seem to be highly desirable, and I love the graphic patterns that are created with them. I can't wait to pull out my fabric stash and see how many selvages I can find and then figure out what I can create with them. (I'm sure it won't be a full-sized quilt.) Here's a link to a selvage blog where you can see what I mean.

Now I'm sewing the valences.

If you know me at all, you'll know that there's usually a glass of iced tea close by. Here it is.

Toward the end of the sewing, I had to put more thread on the bobbin. Since I was nearly finished, I wanted to wind only as much thread as needed. I got pretty darn close!

Here's the finished valance on the single and on the double windows.

It is definitely lime green in the sewing room. It's even more apparent in the mornings when the sun shines on the front of the house where the double windows are. Open the door at your own peril. It could be that Martians have landed in there.