family room redo project :: printed curtains: "
(You may be wondering if I'll ever share our redone family room. I promise I will! As soon as its sunny and tidy in there at the same time.) In the meantime, here's another project from the redo.
I am very much in love with the recently released Lotta Jansdotter Stencils. I knew I would use it as soon as I ran across it in the bookstore. You see, I happen to think printing fabric myself is fun, and Lotta's approach to stenciling feels very free form and doable, not intimidating in the least. This stencil set is a great supplement to her other printing book, but the great thing about this set is that it comes ready to use, with 10 pre-cut, reusable plastic stencils. Which puts it all one giant step closer to actually being used by me! (Because I am not a fan of cutting stencils. I will do it, but I will not enjoy it, probably because I'm usually overcaffeinated.)
When I opened up the family room visually (with lighter wall color, clearing out the clutter, smaller coffee table, etc), the side of the room with sliding glass doors suddenly felt too stark and empty. I decided simple curtains would do the trick, but too simple or plain wouldn't necessarily help fill the space, so that's where Lotta's stencils came in.
I bought this amazingly lovely, gorgeously plain hopsack cloth from Joann's for about $5 a yard. Am I the last one to know about this fabric? Its cotton, sort of plaster-y natural color, and a simple square weave that feels and drapes a lot like linen, great for curtains. I now love hopsack and I would like to buy at least 100 yards of it please.
Stenciling or printing some sort of pattern on them would help accomplish what I wanted. I used Lotta's leaf stencil and just did an all over pattern in a dark gray*, turning the template a quarter turn each time I moved it down, just to keep the look more random. Later I used another one of the stencils to add just a tiny bit of blue. Done. These curtains will not close often (only during the hottest afternoons in summer) and I'm not lining them, I just hemmed the panels on all 4 sides and attached them with simple clips at the top. (I promise to show them hung soon.)
I can't stress enough how easy and satisfying this sort of project is, and how great this stencil set is. Now I want to find more things to use these stencils on. I'm looking at everything around here as a potential print surface.
*I used Delta Ceramcoat color 'Charcoal', and mixed it with Delta's textile medium (which turns acrylic paint into washable fabric paint) and it all worked great, although the hand of the painted areas is a little crispy. Its fine for curtains, but I wouldn't want to wear it.
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Totally off subject, but can we talk about 9 By Design? About the design team behind Sixx Design. For whatever reason, I really love this show, makes me want a big family. I loved this week's episode and the gym they redid.
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