sewing Archives - the portuguese american mom

My mom is an expert in curtain making. She doesn’t do it professionally although I have urged her to do so on several occasions. She needs no pattern and often comes up with designs on her own. So, we have always had custom designed and made curtains. From when I moved out into my first apartment to now all I need do is pick out a fabric or two and explain what I was looking to achieve and she was able to whip it right up for me. The same has extended to my sister’s of course. And I have to tell you, there is nothing that succeeds in making a home look more polished than beautifully hung curtains.

My sister Lindsey recently got married and they just bought their first home! Such an exciting time! New beginnings and a fresh start in designing and decorating. So, she, as I and my sister Vicki have done picked out some fabrics and styles. Today I am going to walk you through some simple cotton tab-top curtains my mother designed and made for Lindsey’s eat in kitchen.

First the fabrics:

My sister chose a simple sage green and beige checkered design for the main fabric and a plain sage fabric for the accent color.

The first step whenever making custom curtains is to take accurate measurements. You need to measure from curtain rod to floor or to the bottom of the sill, whichever you decide you want to do. In this case we are going right down to the floor. Then you need to allow for hemming. In this case, the bottom of the curtain will be the accent piece and it will measure 18″. So that 18″ doubled plus 2″ for a hem is added to the rod to floor measurement along with a 2″ top hem.

The first step is to sew the two pieces of fabric together.

Just using a simple sewing machine stitch. Be sure you have lined up the edges of the fabric. And be sure you are sewing the wrong sides of the fabric facing out so that when you see the fabric from the front side it looks seemless.

Then you have this and you can treat it like one piece of fabric.

Before starting any hem, the first step is to iron. With a big piece of fabric like a curtain, it’s a lot easier to not use pins and ironing will assist with that.

This is my mom’s little trick for measuring as she irons.

Now you can run this through your machine.

A simple stitch is all you need for the left and right of the panel.

This is how you make the tabs… picture by picture. The first step is to get a length of fabric about 4″ wide by 6″ long and iron it down, then sew, then turn it inside out, iron again, pin it on the top of your panel and sew on.

Once all your tabs are in position, the next step is to make it so they pop out the top without seeing the rough edges. In order to do this you create a back panel for the top with a 4-6″ piece of fabric. As always start off with iron it, then pinning it to the top of the panel and sewing. Once that is set, you put in a simple top stitch to keep everything in place and falling nicely.

Now to finish the last part of the panel, the bottom. My mother always makes sure to give the curtains a custom look by adding in an invisible seem where you don’t see actual stitching.

My mother likes to be sure that her curtains are finished nicely with invisible seems at the bottom.

This is what you want it to look like on the back side of the curtain.

To demonstrate, she did it in red for ya.

Then pull it in.

And you will have an invisible seem on the other side.

This is what you will see on the front side of the curtain, only when it is in beige, you won’t see anyting, hence the invisible seem.

Then iron again.

“Are you looking to spruce up your home for the holiday season? You may have extra money to get that done, let’s take a look at your mortgage and find out. Rates are great, let’s see if we can save you money!” ~Lori Medeiros

I was probably the furthest thing from girly when I was growing up. On any given summer day, you could find me building forts and making mud pies out in the yard. My friends and I would ride bikes all day and play cops and robbers. You might even call me a good old-fashioned Tom-boy! I didn’t start to come into my “girliness” until I was an adolescent. Even so, from the moment I learned I would be having a baby girl, I couldn’t help but think about all the precious little girl clothes and toys and frilly things.

My daughter has always loved all her little dolls and stuffed animals. She is now starting to mimic Mommy and Daddy in showing her dollies affection and really starting to love them. So when she received an American Girl Doll for her birthday, I couldn’t have been more thrilled. Yes, I said “I couldn’t have been”! My daughter is just a year old, she doesn’t know to be excited for all the cute little matching clothes and the cafe and hair salon, so I have decided to be excited for her! Those little matching clothes can get rather pricey though!

I found this incredible fabric the last time I was at the craft store and fell in love with it! I mean any fabric that you don’t have to hem is definitely something worthy of my attention! I, like just about any parent of a toddler, absolutely adore one piece rompers! My son wore one piece rompers for two years (they stop making them after 24 mos. 🙁 ) With the idea of a one piece romper and this super “Ruffled Stretch Knit” fabric, a design was born.

Here are a couple more photos of the outfits and then we will start the super easy tutorial:

You will want to start by measuring your girl and your doll. measure from shoulder to midway down her thigh and around her waist and then the inseam.

Start with a Stretch Ruffled Knit fabric in whatever shade you like. Measure your child’s waste and add two inches to allow for both the seam allowance and comfort.

Do this at the top.

And the bottom.

Now pin all the way down… but, before you do, be sure all of your ruffles are facing the same way

You will also want to ensure that all of your rows match up pretty exactly. As it is stretchy material, this can be a bit tricky.

Now do the same to the dolly size fabric and cut both out after pinning.

Sew a zig zag allowing for a 3/8″ seam. I do this because I like to double up the seam and the zig zag is to allow for the stretch of the fabric.

zig zag (I am using a contrasting color thread so you can see what I am doing better, you will wan to match your color)

Now, fold the sewn fabric in half stopping at the seam to find the middle. This is where you cut just an 2-3 inches depending on the measurements you took of your child and of the doll.

This is what you should have. I like to baste here.

This is basted and I have started to reinforce the top where the cut ends… This reinforcement will stop any tearing that may occur.

Next cut ribbons to tie up at the shoulder. Be sure to add an inch or two to the back ribbons to accommodate for her back (as it should hang a bit lower than the front)

Attach the front ribbons about an inch further in than you have done for the back. This will help to prevent the frock from falling off her shoulders.

Be sure to do this under a ruffle and reinforce it really really well. I like a two spot reinforcement.

You will want to use a bit of Frey Check at the ends of all ribbons you use in this project. If you don’t have Frey Check, you could use a bit of fabric glue.

All you need to do is run the edge of your ribbon through the liquid. I only use enough to coat the very edge of the ribbon.

Now onto the super bow I attached right to the front. Just wrap a bit of ribbon (5/8″) around your 4 fingers and tie off with another ribbon and spread.