Lessons Learned Installing Curtain and Drapery Rods

I have begun a project that involves hanging curtains over two windows and drapes over two sliding glass doors in my photography studio.  I bought some Levlor rods at JoAnn Fabrics.  The instructions on the box were very simple and any instructions you may find on the Internet appear to be simple as well, but don't let it fool you.  There is nothing easy about installing curtain and drapery rods.

It looks like you might be able to get them all installed in an hour, but this project took me all day.  It took all morning to install the rods over the two windows, and all afternoon to install the rods over the two sliding glass doors.  Believe me when I tell you that I made every mistake in the book, and if anything at all could go wrong, it did.  When all was said and done, I had a bad case of tennis elbow.

First off, if you install them into wood, you just use the screws.  If you install them into drywall, you use the plastic anchors and the screws.  You are supposed to drill a hole the size of the anchor, hammer the anchor into the wall, place the bracket over the anchor, and drill in the screw.  However, that didn't work for me.  It turned out the majority of the wall was drywall, but the last quarter inch was solid wood.  It's impossible to hammer a plastic anchor into hard wood. 

So, I had to improvise.  I placed the bracket against the wall first, hammered in the plastic anchor as far as it would go, and then drilled in the screw.  The brackets ended up being a bit unstable, but if worse comes to worse, there's always Super Glue.  You can see in the picture below, how the plastic anchor refused to push past the wood, and the screw wouldn't go in all the way either, because the drill stripped the head before I could get it in further.

My biggest mistake was that one window required that I install the brackets into wood.  I had been so intent on installing the plastic anchors into the drywall, that I drilled for the size of the plastic anchors into the wood.  The anchors are much larger than the screws, so by the time I realized my mistake, the holes were too big for the screws and there was no room on either side of the strip of wood to drill new holes.  I was essentially drilling into a trellis. 

I ended up having to force the plastic anchors into those bigger holes, which isn't easy, and I almost split the wood.  I recommend planning everything out on paper before laying a hand on your tools.

My next big mystery was that despite measuring exactly three inches above the window and one inch above the window frame, the rods were uneven.  I could clearly see that they were lower on one side than the other.  In the picture below, the rod is lower on the left than on the right.

After paying closer attention to the rod itself, I realized that had I studied the rod ahead of time, I might I have noticed that one side of the rod is thinner than the other side.  That's how they get one side to slide inside of the other side with metal rods.  So, if you are installing metal rods, I recommend that you install one bracket an eighth of an inch higher than the bracket on the far end.  Better yet, get solid wood rods.

Lastly, for some reason, I was provided with four brackets. I wondered why, because you can't slide the rings past the brackets. I only installed three of the brackets, one on each end and one in the middle where the curtains and draperies meet, but had I mindlessly installed all four brackets spaced out evenly for the sake of stability, I would have regretted it. I suppose I could have placed two brackets side-by-side in the middle, but what's the point?

As you can tell, I'm not a carpenter. In upcoming posts, I'll share my experiences in constructing homemade curtains and drapes.

Scrappy Lives Up To His Name

Scrappy found a pile of fabric scraps I pulled out and tossed on a chair. I've never seen a dog who likes to nest as much as this boy. Being short-haired and originally from Northern California, I suspect he's going to need a lot of blankets this winter. I'm thinking of putting the king-sized bed quilt I've been making for the past several years on hold in order to make a quilt just for Scrappy. I think he'd appreciate it.

Backing Finished, But...

I finished piecing together the backing to my Storm at Sea king-sized bed quilt, and was able to finally put the ironing board away. No more freezer paper! Whoopie!

I laid it over my bed and was a bit shocked by it's length and width. I added a few inches when I took my measurements last year, because I wanted to fold the edges over and use the backing for the border to speed things up.

However, my measurements of the top must have been way off, because when I laid the Storm at Sea top over the wave backing, the backing was way wider than the top. The length is workable, but I'm going to have to make 16 more Storm at Sea blocks to get a better match in size. Of course, I could just cut the excess off the back, but that would make my scrap stash unmanageable and I actually would like the quilt to be wider and drape over the edges of the bed.

So, I doubt I will meet my goal of getting this quilt done before this winter. I may have to give myself another year. If I didn't have two jobs, I wouldn't need an entire year, but spare time is something that comes around so rarely for me. The only reason why I was able to finish the backing this week is because I'm on vacation.

Hit a Snag

It's my unintentional M.O. to get down to the wire on a big project and then have some freak problem that sets me so far back that I lose my enthusiasm and either put the project on the back burner for a while (since it causes me too much aggravation) or abandon it all together.

The backing to my Storm at Sea quilt was supposed to just be rows of waves deepening in darker hues toward the bottom. However, now that I'm close to finishing the bottom, I discovered that I cut the last few rows two-feet too short. At first I thought, "No problem. I'll just sew on two more feet of each fabric."

However, upon surveying my stash, I discovered that I didn't have any more of these fabrics. I would have to use something different. I then came up with the creative idea of making an island with a lagoon way out in the ocean and tack those fabrics onto the missing two feet of ocean.

I didn't want to shape the island and lagoon like a real island and lagoon would look, but I wanted to keep it abstract like the rest of the quilt. I decided to install it in blocks instead of curves. Unfortunately, I put the second section of the island on the opposite end of the row from where it should have been and had to correct it by cutting off the existing seam and resewing it on the other side. That resulted in the island's seam not lining up with the lagoon's seam, so now this island is going to turn out even more abstract than I had planned...

I'm at a point where I don't care anymore. I just want a nice, new warm quilt for my bed this winter. Since this is the back of the quilt, we probably won't look at it much anyway.

Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and say, "Oh well."

Still Chipping Away at My Waves

I'm still chipping away at making my waves for my Storm at Sea quilt backing.

I have six more rows to go.

Once this is done, I can sandwich the batting between the quilt top and the backing, quilt it together, and apply the border.

This project has taken so long that I don't think I'm going to get fancy with the border. I'll just pick a fabric, scallop the edges, wrap it around the sides and sew it on. I think I might actually get this quilt done by this winter. One year overdue isn't too bad.

On a Roll Now

Now that I have finally figured out the engineering aspects of how to create the backing I envisioned, I'm on a roll. I fold the seam over freezer paper, iron it all down, and pin it to the piece I want to overlap.

Then I sew it on using an over-edge stretch stitch. I felt that if I just used a straight stitch, I'd probably not catch the entire length of seam. Plus this wider stitch allows me to cover up the points where I would rather there be curves. If I don't clip the curve just right, it comes out as a point, but I figure I've spent too many years working on this quilt to be a perfectionist now. I just want something warm on my bed that hasn't been shredded by our dog's toenails.

Next I tear the freezer paper off. I have never worked with freezer paper before, and am pleased with its ease of use. It's easy to cut, easy to iron on, easy to sew through, and easy to tear off.

Once that layer is done, I start all over with the next strip of fabric to make beach waves overlapping other beach waves.

By George - I Think I've Got It!

I gave my attempt at creating waves on the backing one last try. Since the shape of the waves had already been cut out of the fabric, I had to cut the freezer paper along the seam, leaving room to fold the fabric over. I had to pin the freezer paper on as I cut it, and then lay the monstrosity on the ironing board.

The first thing I noticed was that the seam wouldn't fold over unless I cut slits in the hills and dales. The next thing I noticed was that right where the seam folded over at the slits, the hills came out pointed. Perhaps I should cut a V shape instead of just a slit for better results. However, I wasn't too concerned, as I can sew over the points to create curves with the thread.

I also learned that I should remove the pins before ironing each section, because if I barely touch a plastic pinhead with the iron, it melts.

It's all a learning process.

More on How Not To Make Curves

I'm down to my last day of my holiday vacations and still haven't had the time, energy or inspiration to quilt. However, I knew if I didn't do SOMETHING, I'd feel very disappointed in myself. Finishing this Storm at Sea bed quilt has been on my To Do List for well over two years. Every year I say I'll do it over my winter break, since I'm usually busy working with my horses whenever I have time off in the other three seasons. However, I've been sick with a series of health problems throughout most of my time off. Today, the last day of my time off, was the first day I started feeling 100%.

I didn't have the time to deal with freezer paper, pins, and pressing, so I tried sewing the waves onto the beach freestyle, turning down the seam of the curves as I sew. It didn't work. The fabric is still puckered. Once I rip the thread out, I'm going to have to resign myself to reading my quilting books on the subject of quilting curves, using that freezer paper and pins, and pressing a lot. If I hadn't already cut the strips for the waves, I'd abandon this design and just do something simple with a straight-stitch for the backing.

We need a new bed quilt. The dogs have managed to shred all of our old bed quilts with their toenails. Plus I'm cold at night. I've had chills off and on and am constantly shivering in the bedroom. I can't seem to get warm enough despite piling many layers of blankets and quilts on top of me.

If I abandon the curvy wave design for the backing, I won't take my quilting to the next level. I want to be able to do more with fabric and can't let a lack of time constantly be forcing me to take the easy route. I think I'll just have to take my time with the project and shoot for having it on our bed next winter.

On another note, there's something to be said about having your own space to quilt. I've got a husband and two kids home for winter break, and even when I put the ironing board in the corner of the family room, I've still got people and dogs tripping over me. The hassle of always having to shift here and shift there to make room for other bodies while I'm working on a large quilt causes me to lose my enthusiasm for the craft. Ultimately, winter break is not a good time for me to plan to quilt. Neither are weekends. I'll either have to take a vacation at a time when no one else is home and it's warm enough to put the dogs outside, or I'll have to just wait until I retire to get serious about quilting.

I had my time to quilt when the kids were young and I was able to stay at home with them. Until I can stop working full-time to pay the bills, my fabrics will probably remain on the shelf collecting dust. There. I said it. Now I just have to accept it.

How Not to Make Curves

So much time has passed since I completed the top to my king-sized Storm at Sea quilt. I had originally hoped to have the quilt done by Christmas of 2008, and here we are two days away from Christmas of 2009, and I still don't have the backing pieced together. I blame my real job, the one that brings home the bacon. It has been sucking up 10 to 16 hours a day of my time this past year, leaving me very little time to finish quilting projects.

However, now that I have a few days off from work, I had hoped to at least finish piecing the back before returning to the office. I put together what I thought was a simple pattern of curvy waves, however once I started sewing from memory, I realized that it wasn't as simple as it seemed.

I was taught to sew when I was in middle school, 30-some years ago. I remember my teacher having us put the right sides of the fabric together, double-stitching the seams, and then cutting out notches her 1/2 inch, like this:


However, what I forgot was that we were making pillows at the time, not quilts. When I tried to turn the fabric with the right-side up, I found that no amount of ironing would get this curve to sit flat. It's great if I want a bumpy quilt with 3-dimensional waves that actually stick out with stuffing, but that might be uncomfortable to lie on.

So, out came the quilting books that discuss the art of sewing curves into flat quilts. I know it's not rocket science, but I still don't get it just looking at the pictures and diagrams. I'm actually going to have to take some time to read these books. I have so many other things to do this week that having to give up time to read through some books seems so daunting right now.

From what I can tell, it looks like I'll need to use freezer paper, iron over the seams and do some top stitching like with applique. This project is going to take a lot longer than I anticipated. What do you think? Should I abandon this project temporarily and shoot for finishing it for Christmas of 2010?

Forming Waves

I'm embarrassed to say that it took me ten months to start on the backing for that Storm at Sea quilt I've been constructing for our California King-sized bed. The majority of that time was just spent hashing over ideas on what to do. I don't like to just slap a few solid pieces of fabric together for backing. I want to do something creative, but not as time-consuming as it took to make the front of the quilt.

I thought waves would be appropriate, but am worrying that I may not be able to sew curves together without any puckering. If I have a hesitation over any part of a project, everything comes to a standstill until I wait for a better idea to come along. I tired of waiting after ten months and started tackling large pieces of previously used fabric to cut them down into rectangles. These pieces had odd shapes since I had cut out smaller pieces for the top using templates. I worked with two layers of fabric at a time, pinning them together. I then divided the rectangles into three strips.

Then next step will be to sew the three strips of each fabric end to end to span the width of the quilt. I will then pin two strips of different fabrics together and cut out a wave shape. At that point, I suspect I will thoroughly consult some of my quilting books on curves, then begin sewing. Hopefully, all the strips will add up to the length of the quilt once they are sewn together in waves. If not, I'll add a sandy beach.

I'm planning on making the backing several inches wider and longer than the top, so that I can wrap the borders over from the back to the front. That way the border will have waves too.