This Weekend Was Sew Nice

I was highly productive this weekend! I had hoped to complete my Christmas decorating, and I was completely successful in that regard; the tree is trimmed, and all of my other decor is in place!

As I was inspecting my work, however, it occurred to me that the kitchen window needed a little something to finish off the vintage look that I was going for.

 I decided that my current window treatment was not cutting it and realized that I wanted a curtain that would match the retro vibe. Where does one find such a curtain? Not in any store in Hooterville, I thought. But then I had a stroke of brilliance. My eye settled on the kitchen table, currently covered with a vintage 1950s tablecloth that I recently picked up at the antique store in Hooterville, and it struck me that a similar tablecloth could be cut and hemmed into a serviceable valance for the window.

So, Friday afternoon, I went back to the antique store to look at the selection. I found a cloth that was sold "as is", due to some staining, and I went to Mom's house to ask for a sewing assist (remember how I sewed my fingers together in Home Economics class back in the day? Yeah, I'm still not a fan of sewing machines).

I laid the tablecloth out for Mom's inspection and explained my vision.

She picked up what I was laying down, if you will, and agreed to help. However, since she, the Man-Cub, and Shanti were in the process of decorating her house for the holidays, we agreed to do the sewing on Sunday afternoon.

And, by "we", I obviously mean "her".

I contributed to the effort by hauling her ancient sewing machine out of the closet and getting it set up. I am not kidding when I say that thing weighs a ton; it was made back when things were built to last and probably contains more metal than is found in most cars on the road these days.

Anyhoodle, once the machine was set up, I cut the tablecloth and pinned the hem that would become the pocket for the drapery rod. Then Mom got busy with the sewing.

Just look at her not sewing her fingers together!

The entire project took less than an hour, and the final product in my window is something that I will treasure for years to come.

I am now debating possible uses for the small amount of unstained fabric that remained from the tablecloth. 

I have several ideas, but I don't know if any of them will actually come to fruition this season.

I'll keep you posted.