Curtain Call (Curtains for the Bedroom and Den)

It's been awhile since I've blogged, huh? A lot has happened in my off-blog life since my last post--birthdays, Mother's Day, a nearly week-long visit from Mom, my sister-in-law graduated from med school--which seems like enough events to keep a person from blogging, right?

During Mom's visit, she and I made some good headway on the task of making curtains for my bedroom and our den and they are definitely worth sharing.

After we moved into this house it became apparent that none of the curtains we had in our old apartment matched the dimensions of the larger windows of this house, so we had many bare windows that needed dressing (and still do). In the bedroom, though, I knew I wanted to go a more serene route than the red and blue that we had in there.

I ordered 10 yards of off white shantung silk from Gray Lines Linen and coupled the silk with black-out lining from Joann Fabrics. The side windows are 53" wide, but I wanted the curtains to be full so Mom and I decided to have two panels of 54" wide each. Our bedroom is mostly empty, but somehow the curtains feel fill some of the space like a substantial piece of furniture.
Here they are:

I'm planning to add these bamboo roman shades from Overstock to the side windows, which will add another nice texture to the shantung. Don't you agree?

Meanwhile, during a trip to Joann Fabrics for thread, I spotted a bolt of fabric with a color and pattern that complemented the painted paneling in the den (a soon-to-be-completed project). How serendipitous!

And at $24.99 plus a 40% off coupon, the decision to use this fabric for curtains was a no-brainer! The curtains in the den were also lined (as all curtains should be). I had to special order about 6 more yards of this striped fabric because my local store didn't have any more in stock, but when they do Mom and I will finish the remaining panels so that I have the option of fully covering the window.

Until then, I'm pretty happy with what I've got so far:

Curtains are always a good project to tackle with my mom because she's a great sewer and it also really helps to have an extra set of hands to manage all the fabric that is required for making your own curtains. Thanks, Mom!