I blame it on the mug!

You just never know what is going to inspire you.
Last week I was drinking from this mug, and thinking how pretty it was and how it reminded me of something. Took a while, but eventually I realised it was the duvet cover from Ikea that I have.
There isn't much point in using pretty duvet covers, as I always have a quilt over the top of the beds in this house - duvet covers aren't seen, so most of them are plain.

Looking at my mug full of tea, my mind started whirring, and before long I'd decided I'd like to use the duvet cover as curtains in the kitchen.
I'm plotting a little kitchen makeover. Nothing too drastic, just a change of wall tiles, paint colour, the addition of wallpaper and shelving. Things that are simple, but will make a big difference. Naturally, curtains are part of that.

I'm still trying to work on projects that use things around the house, and not having to buy anything. Can this be the case with curtains? Oh yes, my friend, oh yes!

Today was the day.

The kitchen window looked like this at the start of the day. With the result of my [first attempt at making curtains]

The fabric stash. The duvet cover, and the lining. The lining I unpicked from the teddy bear curtains, that were formerly in the [craft room when it was the nursery] It's black out lining, so I thought it was worth re-using, but the truth is it's a swine to sew. If I'd known what a pain it would be I might have been tempted to not bother lining at all.

The seam ripper has been my friend this week. I would have been lost without it.

Once three sides had been unpicked, I had one massive piece of fabric. Here it is sprawled on the kitchen floor. This is A LOT of fabric in a duvet cover. I've got plenty left over for other projects. I didn't buy new curtain tape, instead I unpicked it from the top of the curtains being taken down! Not ideal, and a bit of a faff, but not impossible. I always leave the strings you tighten the header with nice and long. This meant it wasn't a problem when I straightened it out again to sew onto the new curtains.

After lots of hard work (and swearing), the curtains were up and in place. As usual I will say they are not perfect, there are errors galore, but I don't mind at all. I like how they look.
The kitchen feels lighter and brighter. Even though curtain making is not a favourite thing to do - and I still need to do a bit of tidying up and finishing off - I'm glad I did it.

The best thing about this particular project wasn't just that it cost nothing to do, but there is something very refreshing about re-using fabric and curtain tape. It felt pressure free because I hadn't spent a fortune on fabrics. I love that.