Homey Things: Lacey Divider Curtains (May 24, 2008)

Saturday, June 14, 2008 Jonette 0 Comments

Hello, everyone. I know it's been ages since my last substantial post, but please do bear with me. My real-world teaching job has bee taking up a big portion of my time and energy these days. Nonetheless, it's high time I shared with you another of my works. Time and creativity wait for no one, after all. (Yyyes, this is indeed an overdue post. ^_^")

Teaching the French has its perks. The month of May gives you three reasons to love them even more: (1) Labor Day on May 1st, (2) V-day on May 8th, and (3) bridge leaves. (bridge leaves are applied for when a certain holiday skips a day before or after the weekend. In both cases, May 1 and May 8 fell on Thursdays. To make a bridge leave, you apply for an ordiany leave on the Fridays that follow after it, and voila! Instant 4-day weekend. Sweet. ^_^)

So, one one of those leaves, I decided to do something productive with the 2 yards of embroidered organza waiting in my stash. (Besides, when you keep your hands busy, it gives you less chances to tear out your hair in frustration over something like, say, a very very overdue broadband installation.) See? Crafting is therapeutic. :)

After the folding and the cutting came the hemming. Working with embroidered organza is no joke. (Come to think of it, working with any silky, slippery material is no joke!) Its silkiness makes it behave like water, and will constantly flow and obey the law of gravity. Keeping it still, folding its edges and pinning it makes for a very effective test of your patience. Then again, if you want to make something beautiful, you best be prepared for certain sacrifices. Frayed edges or frayed nerves? Take your pick.

After two hours later(yay!) came the ironing. I decided it would be best to press the hems flat to make them easier to sew, not to mention to seal a few renegade threads threatening to keep fraying. Later on, I decided might as well go the whole nine yards and iron the entire material smooth. forty minutes after, I didn't regret my decision.

and that's when I realized that my cloth was the stuff of bridal veils and trains.

Finally, the sewing. (an exhausted yay!) And the hanging. ( a teary-eyed and very relieved yay! ) And now... my house looks like it's getting married.

Well, I'd like to think it's a refreshing break from the Organdy curtains my mother first commissioned for the house. And it's seasonal: The translucence and fluidity of the Organza would be perfect for bright, hot summers, while the imposing bulkiness and mass of the Organdy would suit the latter rainy to chilly half of the year. The lack of a valance does make it seem bare, but on the other hand, it also makes the room seem bigger and brighter. :)

The finished project, as modeled by Ate Osang, house-mate and orchid-bloomer extraordinaire.