A love story

For the last few months I've been painstakingly looking for curtains to put into our dining room. Not just any curtains, ones that make my heart flutter. All too often, I buy things that are just "eh" and use them for the time being until I find something that knocks my socks off. This is a silly approach that I am working on changing.

After visiting every store I could think of online and in person, I had no success in finding ready-made curtains. I moved on to fabric stores and there, I fell in love and I fell hard.

Her name was Shalini by Annie Selke and she was gorgeous. Everything I had been looking for my whole life the last 3 months. I was ready to make my purchase when I found that this amazingly beautiful cotton blend was $27.99 a yard. I needed 18 yards. That equals...a lot. More than I should spend on curtains. Nevertheless, I brought a sample home and looked lovingly at it for the next few days hoping that this love would pass. It didn't.

Like many love stories, mine has a tragic ending. Shalini and I had to go our separate ways. I followed my head instead of  my heart and reluctantly returned her to the store where she rightly belonged.

But, my story doesn't end there because we all know that real love stories always end with a happily ever after. Though my heart was broken and Shalini was still on my mind, I knew that there could be another fabric for me, and I was out to find it. And find it I did today at World Market in the form of a table cloth named Sarika.

Though Shalini was my first love, Sarika was a better match for me. Not only was she aesthetically pleasing, she was hemmed on all four sides, she was in stock so I could take her home with me, and she was cheap.

Just how I like 'em.

At $15 a table cloth (marked down from $35) I calculated that this was approximately $5 a yard. Less than 20% of the cost of Shalini and far simpler to work with. I like simple. All Sarika needed to become a curtain panel was a  pocket made to fit over the curtain rod. Nothing a quick date with my iron and Stitch Witchery couldn't handle.


Once I got Sarika home and ironed, installing the curtain panels was a cinch. I absolutely LOVE the look of my new curtains. The dining room is starting to take form. Not bad, eh?

And though I have my happily ever after with my curtains, our affair is not without flaw:
 

When creating a pocket, make sure to use the correct side of the curtain. Oops! It's ok- this is an easy fix and every relationship needs work, right?