Saturday, November 29, 2014

10 down 1 to go! Finished (Finnished?) Swedish Shade!

Finally, the Lined Swedish Shade is in place.
It did not go gently into that good night.  I had some trouble with screwing the screws through the fabric ties.  If I had made leather ties, it would have been a lot easier on me.  Then I threaded the cord wrong and only discovered that after I had cut it.  This was okay as I didn't really like the cord.  I replaced it with jute twine, which is not perfect, but which will do for now.  Then I had some trouble getting the screws to go in the holes I had drilled in the door.  But other than that, it was fine.  (Although it's just the tiniest bit askew.  Just like the one in Matt's room.)

There is an excess of the bird curtain, I apparently didn't make the shade flat. I worry that eventually the bird  curtain will be overly wrinkled from spending the day in the rolled position.  But I guess I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

In the rolled position.

I still need to get and install a cleat to wrap the cord around.  I'm glad I waited because the size I would have bought would have been too small.  Right now I'm just draping the excess cord around the door handle and hoping the cats don't get too interested.

I also didn't have a drapery pull, so I used this old button instead.

In my excitement to complete this project this summer, I purchased a curtain rod for the curtains I've yet to make.  Since I had the drill out anyway, I went ahead and installed it.  
This is the before picture, with Sentinel, my trusty helper assisting.

Directions.

I had dreams of pulling the curtains open and having the curtain rod extend far enough so the whole window would be visible. I thought my curtain rod would extend far enough, but no.  It did not.  So the right and left brackets were moved inward.

Completed curtain rod, just waiting for curtains.

You, blind #11, are the last man standing.  But your days are numbered.
Notice the bent slats from where Antares pushes through when he wants to see out the window at night.

Close-up of bird on the left side of the curtain rod.  Also pictured:  the holes that I now need to patch from my first installation attempt.

Bird on the right-hand side.

I'm very excited to finish this project!

3 comments:

balyien said...

That shade is so adorable! Really perfect for you. I also like the idea of making your curtain rod so long that when you pull back the curtains you can see the whole window. That's really smart. Do you have a plan for what the last curtain is going to be?

Venetian blinds: the bane of every cat owner's existence. I'm glad you're getting rid of them.

Patricia said...

I have the curtains purchased and I know exactly what I will do with them. I just have to finish prepping Christmas and I can start working on them.

I will also be replacing the jute twine on the shade as it broke this morning. Oh well. At least I can install longer screws. And maybe switch to leather instead of fabric ties.

Sara K. said...

Put a bird on it! I love the shades. the fabric is so lovely. Nice find!