Friday, August 16, 2013

Pins and Needles

The Kitchen Window Series (It's a soap opera, really) - part 5


After I changed my modern looking sliding kitchen window for a more cottage looking wooden one, I also had to change the window treatment.

Après avoir changé ma fenêtre de cuisine moderne pour une qui fait plus "cottage", j'ai aussi dû changer les rideaux.


Je vous ai montré précédemment mon inspiration.


I wanted café curtains, but I needed to find the right fabric. I also had my mind on tabs, but they made curtains quite expensive.

Je voulais des rideaux bistrot, mais pour cela, il me fallait le tissu adéquat. J'avais aussi envie de petites nouettes, mais cela faisait grimper les prix.


Until one day of February, I was browsing my favourite shopping website because it was sale time in France and for some reason between looking for jeans and for a new bra, I had the idea to check their curtain section.

Jusqu'à ce qu'un jour de février, je farfouillais sur mon site shopping préféré et entre une recherche de jeans et un petit tour au rayon soutien-gorge, j'ai jeté un coup d'oeil aux rideaux.


I found one with tabs 100% cotton, available in white, on sale, no doubt because it had a bad review. A customer wrote: "the fabric is too heavy for a sheer curtain and too thin for a regular curtain", which was exactly what I was looking for!

Je suis tombé sur un rideau à nouettes, en coton, disponible en blanc et en soldes, nul doute grâce à un commentaire négatif d'une cliente qui écrivait que le tissu était trop épais pour un voilage et pas assez pour un rideau. Juste ce que je cherchais!

Shadow loved it when we received the curtains because they were in a big plastic bag!
 The only problem was that they were long curtains... So I had to cut them, put pins where I thought the hem should be and use my mother's sewing machine to hem.


Le seul problème est que c'était un rideau, un vrai, un long et il a donc fallu que je coupe, mette des aiguilles et fassent un ourlet.


I'm not going to lie I was terrified to cut the fabric, because I'm not known in the family for my sewing skills... I also worried about not sewing in a straight line, not being able to do both curtains the same height... But I managed to do OK.


Je ne vais pas mentir, je ne faisais pas la fière quand j'ai coupé le tissu. Je ne savais pas si je serais capable de faire mon ourlet à peu près droit ni je pourrais faire les deux rideaux à peu près identiques.

I love how a cotton fabric looks like: it's not stiff and thanks to the colour white, the light coming in the room is beautiful.

Please admire the pretty light I had then!
J'aime la fluidité du coton et la lumière que diffuse le tissu blanc.


Now, all those pictures were taken before we redid the insulation in the kitchen. After it was done the wall around the window was even deeper and it looked quite "blah". Something had to be done. So I did something! But what I did is for a later post!


Toutes ces photos ont été prises avant que l'on refasse l'isolation de la cuisine. Après, l'encadrement de la fenêtre était encore plus profond et c'était pas super intéressant. Il fallait faire quelque chose. J'ai donc fait quelque chose. La suite plus tard!


So what do you think of my café curtains?

Alors, que pensez-vous de ces petits rideaux?


I'm showing off my curtains there:

Photobucket                       that diy link party                          


33 comments:

  1. I love them, Magali! I have a similar problem with my kitchen window, I don't want to loose sun light in the kitchen and I don't find the ideal curtains so I continue waiting.

    Marina

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  2. that was a great idea! i love these curtains, we have some in our place.
    x

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  3. La, j'avoue tu m'as épatée ! Ton ourlet est impeccable et juste à la bonne dimension... je ne peux pas en dire autant avec ceux que j'ai fait à l'entrée de mon petit grenier... ils ont le style "feu de plancher" ! Mais tu me connais, je vais toujours un peu trop vite !

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  4. Perfect! You are brave cutting into fine fabric, but you did it beautifully.

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  5. I love them too and you did a great job hemming them! Now you have left over fabric for another project....any ideas what you might make with it? :)

    Blessings, Vicky
    Life On Willie Mae Lane

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  6. Absolutamente lindas! Boa ideia! Tornaram o ambiente muito acolhedor! Manuela

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  7. They look so pretty and I love that you can still see the beautiful stone house. Good job Magali

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  8. I love your new window. Whenever I see a pane glass window I always think of it in the winter (for some reason), with snow gathered in the corners. I guess it's the image I've seen on so many Christmas cards. Your window treatment is perfect. We are forced to have Venetian blinds here to filter the sun in the summer, otherwise my little old place would be like an oven during the summer months.

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    1. I was completely extatic when we had a day of snow a few weeks after the windows were changed... I took pictures because I thought snowflakes on the panes were so pretty! Thanks for visiting.

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  9. Very pretty Magali and you still get that magnificent view!!!
    XOXO

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  10. They look perfect! You have some mad, fine sewing skills lady! :)

    -andi

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  11. Those are really cute. Perfect for that window. And you must have some sewing skills. They look really straight. Now I would mess them up if I tried.

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  12. L O V E, L O V E , L O V E the cafe curtains and how you left those bottom windows uncovered.

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  13. Your window is genius! I love the fabric of the little curtains, but not the placement nor the tabs. Please forgive my disagreement; I have loved everything that you have done in your wee home. Your blog is the one that I look for everyday and the first one opened when it is there. I love your cat photos and miss the blue-eyed- wanderer even though I am glad that he has returned to his home.

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    1. Thanks for all your kind words about my blog. I understand very well that not everything I do can be to everyone's liking. I chose not to cover the bottom of the window, because I usually display some of my china here. And I also miss the blue-eyed cat!

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  14. Hi Magali, I love your cafe curtain! You did a good job cutting it up. Its beautfy lies in its simplicity.

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  15. Hi Magali,

    What do I think of your cafe curtains?...I think they're ADORABLE!! I love the length, a sweet surprise, which makes sense so as not to miss out on all your beautiful views!! Just lovely!

    Poppy

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  16. They look perfect because they give you a bit of privacy whilst still letting in a lot of light. I can't quite work out what's next and how it could have looked blah ! but as always, waiting in anticipation................

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  17. I love the fact that you are not bound by any conventions of design!! That to me is what design is truly all about!! Fabulous.

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  18. Magli, I love your new cafe curtains especially when I see the blue shutters surrounding them. You did a very good job of sewing them straight it looks like to me and the width of your window sills are just what I would love to have. I always like sitting pretty bottles in the window and I just have a narrow edge to do it. Your blog is so amazing when you write the french translation in between. I love trying to make out what words go with what. I'm anxious to look at some of your past posts..Happy Weekend..Judy

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  19. Yes, your curtains look wonderful and I think you did a good job of it too. Isn't it nice when things turn out well for you, especially when you had so many reservations about the project ?

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  20. Beautiful job, I love your curtains! and I love your view too! what a pretty building.

    Have a wonderful weekend xox

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  21. j'aime beaucoup tes nouveaux rideaux et tu t'es débrouillée comme une pro pour les ourlets !
    me voici rentrée de vacances....je retrouve le net , ton blog et ta jolie petite maison, chouette !
    je te souhaite une belle soirée,
    bise,
    Marry Poppins

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  22. Love your cafe curtains! You did a great job of sewing. That's a skill I need to master.

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  23. Lovely! I think you could have gotten away with them long and flowing, but you did a great job!

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