First Sewing Project and the $1.50 Curtain Rod

You have surely caught on by now that I am "building" my bedroom (like I did in the living room...and now I will stop mentioning it) and that I recently got my first sewing machine.

Kind of like when I'm running, I need a "goal" in mind to keep myself motivated. So, to motivate myself in learning how to sew (where to start!? Overwhelmed.), I picked a project to tackle. Knowing I needed curtains for my bedroom, I decided to start there. Thankfully, I found this tutorial to help me through some basic questions.

Here's the naked window!

Look at this sweet puppy. I had laid the fabric out and he decided it made a nice place to sleep.

Then he knew he'd been caught. Does it get any cuter than this?

Oh my....yes it does.

OK, back to the project at hand...I wanted to make the bottom portion a different fabric, so I sewed the two together before lining the curtains.

I found this cute oversized button to use as a tieback. It's the details like this that make DIY projects so worth it!
Not bad for my first sewing project!

I found the fabric at an awesomely unique and modern craft store in north Kansas City, Urban Arts and Crafts. I went in search of Amy Butler fabric (which I did find), but ended up coming home with Michael Miller. It was around $9 for each yard (great price for designer fabric) and I think I ended up using about 1.5 yards (I used plain white cotton fabric from Hobby Lobby to line the back, which cost around $2 a yard). So total cost for the curtains was under $20.

Oh, and the $1.50 curtain rod?

I paid a visit to Home Depot and asked a very friendly employee to cut me a piece of 1/2-inch electrical conduit. (Very strange look and raised eyebrows followed.) I had to pay for the entire 10-foot piece even though I only needed the three-foot portion, so if anyone needs 7 random feet of electrical conduit...let me know. Anyway, I picked up a bag of conduit hangers to hold each end, which screwed directly into the window frame (see picture). Because the conduit is extremely light, these screws virtually only need to support the weight of the curtains. It's definitely not formal looking, but I'm OK with the "industrial" look to complement the modern fabric.

$1.89 for ten feet of conduit and $2.23 for a bag of five conduit hangers. Since I only used a portion of these, actual cost is $1.45. I like to call that stickin' it to the man!