From Bed to Window

This weekend my mom helped me make curtains from an Ikea duvet set for my dining room. I can't find the name of the set online. It was queen size and I got it on sale for $19.99. The set included one duvet and two pillowcases. My job was to iron while my mom did the more complex measuring, cutting, and sewing.  

We used the pillowcases to give the duvet a little more length since I like my curtains to reach the floor. My mom had an old sheet that we used to line the backs of the pillowcases to better match the rest of the duvet (it had a front and a back due to the nature of it being a duvet - you have to have somewhere to put the comforter!).

Here's my mom's sewing setup. Fancy!

This is what the finished product looked like. We ended up putting the pillowcase fabric horizontal against the vertical pattern of the main duvet fabric. I was really happy to find this fabric (even though it was in duvet format originally). I couldn't find any affordable fabric or pre-made curtains that I wanted in the dining room (which is connected to the kitchen). But when I saw this set, I knew it was perfect.

My job, once I got the curtains home, was to figure out how to put the curtain rod in the wall. Easier said than done! I found these Pop-Toggle screws at Home Depot that did the trick:

I drilled three holds (for the three curtain rod brackets), pushed the toggles into the holes, and then screwed in the screws by hand with a screwdriver. Not bad. I don't think I'll have to struggle anymore with putting anything into my plaster & lathe walls. That's good news.

As you can see, with the finials, it was a bit of a tight squeeze. 

And the finished results! I ended up putting the horizontal "pillowcase" part at the bottom. It looks better that way, I promise.

I also used clip rings from Lowe's instead of a rod pocket. I like the look. The clip rings were $5.97 per pack with seven rings/pack. I had to buy two.

Style Selections 7-Pack Metal Clip Rings 

It's such a relief to be done with this project. Thanks to my mom for all her help!