Blue Jobs – Part 2
If you missed part 1 you can find it here.
Before I go any further, I just want to point out that the title “Blue Jobs” is ironic, as it’s something I hadn’t come across til meeting Adam’s family. Every couple has things they’re good and and things they’re not – you just have to hope that you’re complimentary and can fill in the gaps between you. For us, he’s good at the engineering side of things – cars/power tools/electronics…etc whereas i’m much better at the pretty stuff and, I’m slightly ashamed to say, the stereotypical feminine stuff – baking/sewing/gardening… Hence the name “Pink Jobs” as it’s important when you’re in a relationship to know where your expertise lies so when jobs arise, you know who will be required to fulfill it – i.e. whether it’s a “pink job” or a “blue job”. P.S. I was outraged at the sexism denoted by colours and demanded that I much prefer blue, so hence, Adam had to surrender.
The Iron Lady.
It may seem sexist that I spent my Sunday morning ironing Adam’s shirts, but the truth is, we both play to our strengths. I know i’m hopeless at anything to do with cars, or electronics and there’s no fun in watching his steamy struggle to battle the ironing board and a pile of crumpled freshly washed shirts. Therefore, I am happy to do it, in fact, I actually find it quite therapeutic.
A Stitch in Time.
Having moved into our flat and desperate to decorate everything, you suddenly realise quite how expensive it all is. Curtains were no exception! Growing up you take these things for granted – windows have curtains, and nice ones to boot. However, our odd golden yellow printed Henry VIII style pattern ones that came with the house didn’t really fit with the calm and fresh grey and cream living room we’d lovingly spent hours decorating.
After trawling around countless home wares shops looking for the perfect pair, we’d resigned ourselves to the fact that we would have to fork out at least £100 just for anything remotely nice. That is – until we went to IKEA. Why we hadn’t checked there before I don’t know (rooky error) but these lovely grey beauties match our colour theme perfectly and were a bargain at £40!
After spending last weekend taking them up by about 50cm (and then after hanging them having to take them up again as they didn’t match – don’t ask!) we were lucky enough to have enough material left to make curtain ties.
Things you will need:
- Fabric of your choice
- Pins
- Scissors
- Sewing Machine
- Thread – either matching or in contrast to your fabric
- D-Rings
- Hooks for the wall
Method:
- Firstly, mark out how you want your curtain ties to look on a big piece of paper. I did this by using a belt to wrap around the curtain to measure the length and free hand drew the curved shape (which is why they’re probably a bit weird). I then folded the paper in half to make them symmetrical and cut the design out. Then you at least get to test how it’s going to look on your curtain before you waste any fabric and it’s easy to start again at this point if it does go wrong.
- Once you’re happy with your shape, lay your paper template on the front of your fabric, pin it in place and cut around it leaving a 1 inch buffer.
- You can then flip the whole thing over and pin your buffer back to the line of your template. Once you’ve done this you can unpin the template from the front and you’re ready to sew.
- As this shape was particularly curved, I used a lot of pins to hold it in place, so going steady with a sewing machine follow the edge of the shape and run backwards over your stitching at hold ends to hold the stitch in place.
- Once both are sewn, fold each of of the tie around a D-ring over the flat side and stitch in place by hand.
- Screw your chosen hook into the wall at the height you want your tiebacks and hey presto!
