Breaking out of the mould

Thank you to those who joined in the fun of my disappearing needle competition. I was glad to read that I'm not the only one who loses needles! Would you believe, I found 39 needles inside my pincushion! Congratulations to Cindy who was the closest guess:

I will guess 38 because I've had so many needles simply disappear over the years. They must go somewhere!

So, Cindy, choose your pattern from my pattern store and email me with your choice. [You are a "no reply blogger" so I am not able to contact you.]

I've been married to my wonderful husband for 49 years and we have lived in 7 different houses. In each I have loved making it our home and learned lots about interior decorating on the way. Curtains have always been 'my thing'.  They were far too expensive for us to buy or have made, so if I wanted the place to have the look I was after, I had to make them myself.

 My husband saw the swag and cascade style above in a magazine and said that is what he wanted in our lounge room. He believed I could make anything, so I had to prove that his trust in me wasn't misplaced!

Our second last home was a brand new Federation home which meant that fancy curtains throughout the house was in keeping with the style.

Fast track 4½ years and now we are in a sub-tropical modern home and curtains are only required in just a few rooms. The family room curtains that were in the house when we bought it, were disintegrating fast and the colour of the lounge room curtains never suited our decor, so it was time to make some new ones. 

Or was it?

Our family room windows are huge and require 10 metres of fabric, plus another 10 metres of lining. I could picture myself crawling around on the floor trying to measure and cut all that fabric, then having to pin and stitch hems, then having to pleat the top, then make the lining. It was time to break out of the mould!

For the first time ever, I decided to pay someone else to make them!!! 

and they even came and hung them for me!

They are not fancy like my previous ones, but elegant and suit the modern home. While other girls slaved away making my curtains, I was able to play in my sewing room, making things like this cute cushion: 

You can find the pattern in Handmade magazine, Vol 33 No 8.

 Did you guess what I made with all that guipure lace and beads that I showed you last week? - something I would never have thought of making for a bride, but what a practical idea to have a special coat hanger for the wedding dress ... and of course you can make it as pretty as you like:

I was very happy that my friend was delighted with it and I hope the bride will be too.

It is Mothers' Day here in Australia and I've had a lovely day either seeing or talking to members of our family. They are such a blessing to us. I'm sure you cherish yours too.

Val