My great-grandmother was raised through the Depression and was in her twenties in WWII. Living in those times, it was natural for her to have learned to sew. But she didn't just make clothing; she was a home-dec seamstress as well! She loved to make curtains, tablecloths, bedspreads, pillows - and even dustruffles!
Last Monday while we were visiting her, she told me I could look through her fabric stash to see if there was anything I could use. Boy, oh boy, was there! ; ) As we were going through it all, she would tell me what she had made from the various scraps. One piece I recognized as being in the living room on the pillows and curtains. She said she had made the curtains up one way years back, and decided to re-do them a few years later. Then she got tired of that style, and made them over again, all using the original pieces of material! Talk about creativity! Today those curtains are hanging in very stylish swags in the living room.
Among other pieces, I came across a set of coordinating fabrics in a beautiful palette of green, beige, and pink. I asked what she had done with it, and she told me of a store that used to be "down by the coast" that sold seconds from a linens company. You could by either finished, but irregular products at a discount, or you could buy their fabrics alone. She had racked up on these beautiful fabrics and even the matching trims, and then picked up the comforter that matched.
Once she was home, she made two pillow shams and started on the dustruffle (all that gathering!!!) but hadn't hemmed it.
I told her how pretty the fabrics were, and she pulled out the bag containing the comforter. I asked if she would be using the set if all the other pieces were made to finish it. If she would, I could finish it for her. But she replied, "Oh, no, I'm trying to get rid of some of this stuff. Can you use it?"
"Why, yes! Yes, I could! The girls would love it in their room!" That was Monday, and by Saturday night my sisters had a "brand new"room- for all of $2. (The two dollars was spent on the pillow form for the neckroll. It was on clearance at WalMart ; ) All that's left is to find a picture for over the bed and to paint the walls a lovely light-light sage green... won't it be charming!)
Here's the full view of the ensemble. (You can see I forgot to move
Frances from the headboard. My sister says she's saying "Hey, ya'll!") You may be able to tell that the design on the comforter is of tan vines, leaves and flowers, with a few butterflies scattered across.
The valance
is made from three different scrappy pieces of fabric and a lining. The top is made from a striped piece of fabric, the middle panel is made from a huge strip I have, all printed with the vine design. (I'm not sure what it would've been meant for, but it's just the right size for this application. It's about 10" tall, and I have yards and yards of it!) The bottom piece is a solid light sage green; again it was a strip scrap. (That sounds good, don't you think? "strip scrap." I like that.)
You can barely see it in this picture, but here is one of the the shams my great-grandmother had already made, but she had used two ruffles. I took off the first ruffle (which was solid pink) and sewed the striped one back on instead.
Here's the neckroll pillow I made. It's made (thanks to my mom's inspiration!) from two pieces of the panel used on the valance, joined so as to give the view of one stripe down the middle. Then there is green piping on the edges, finished off with a striped ruffle. The ends (which are not in view here) are gathered in the middle and tied with a green bow.
Here is a close up of the pillowcases I made for the girls. I used a bit of green binding at the seam between the two fabrics. Here again I used that vine panel, this time folded in half to make the wide hem for the case.
We plan on buying a solid set of sheets that coordinate with these fabrics so we can decorate them using the other pieces of fabric I have left.
It was so much fun to redo the girls' room last week! What made it nice was that I already had all the materials picked out for me. Not to mention the comforter was already made- and that dustruffle! All I had to do was hem it. It felt very nostalgic to be able to make up a room myself. I think Mawmaw will be proud- Home sewing isn't out of date! (Or maybe it is, but then I am too. That's okay!) : ) I can't wait till we get the room painted...
Hey! I'd love to see pictures of your favorite room in your house, or a room you've recently redecorated! Leave a comment if you post pictures on your blogs!
