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27 Feb 2014

What I Made From a Bed Sheet

The curtains that I have envisioned for about a year now finally came to be and found a home.  I am in love with the new curtains in the boys' shared room.  They turned out better than I thought they would and I had great expectations for them. :)

You may have guessed from the title of this post that I made the curtains from a king-sized flat bed sheet.  I bought the marimekko kivet sheet set on clearance from Crate and Barrel last winter and knew that I wanted to make something out of the flat sheet.  At first I thought I would turn it into a duvet cover and then the idea of curtains came to me.  I actually draped the sheet over the curtain rod in our bedroom and left it there for a few weeks to see if I liked it.  Now fast forward nearly a year later and my bed sheet curtains are finally done! 
image via crate and barrel

Since the curtains are made from a sheet (cut in half), I had to line them with a good weight cotton lining fabric.  This really helped them hang well and not look like I just hung up some sheets.  I took these photos on a really sunny day with direct sunlight shining through the curtains.  They let some light through, but are not sheer at all.

Another change that I added was to switch from a traditional drapery rod and rings to a super simple i-beam drapery track mounted to the ceiling.  It made all the difference in creating a more modern and simple look.  It also allowed me to extend each panel right to the ceiling making our 8 foot ceilings look taller.  To get the curtain tops as close to the ceiling as possible I sewed the drapery header tape about an inch down from the top of the fabric allowing the fabric to extend past the i-beam track.

Using the top edge of the sheet (the one you typically fold over to make your bed) as the hem saved me some time hemming.  I also am so happy with how the curtains just skim the floor.  I took a little extra effort to measure the length really well.  This is also one of the only pictures that I got without Co-pilot in it.  He came in the room while I was taking pictures and was so excited to sit on the Moomin Artek chair that he stayed there for a good 15-20 minutes while I snapped away. :)

The Marimekko kivet pattern is one of my favourites (I even have it in the living room).  I'm so glad that after a year of humming and hawing about these bed sheet curtains, I finally made them.  I have also painted the boys room (bye-bye stripes).  You may have also spied that I got some new storage for the room too.  Once I get some of the art back on the walls I'll take the photos and show you some more of the updates.  What do you think so far?  Moomin, Artek and Marimekko, my boys are getting a good dose of classic Finnish design. :)

35 comments:

  1. I love the bold pattern and contrast they provide now that the stripes are gone. They really freshen the room up. I am excited to see more of the new storage. Co-pilot is so adorable :)

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    1. Thanks Katja. Both boys are pretty excited about the changes in their room. They've been hanging out in there a lot more lately. :)

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  2. Love the bold pattern! I made our kitchen nook curtains from some Jonathan Adler sheets. I'm not sure they will have a place in the new house, so maybe I'll have to find new bedding to repurpose! :)

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    1. Bedding is a good way to get a lot of fabric for very little and you can also get some fun designer patterns. I'm so excited for you guy to move into your new house. It has been so fun to watch the progress.

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  3. So awesome! We must have telepathy because I have a pile of flat sheets in my bedroom just waiting for me to pull my sewing machine out to make them into curtains! Yours look awesome! I love that they have a big graphic!

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    1. I was surprised at how well the sheet worked for curtains. Can't wait to see your curtains.

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  4. These really look amazing. The bold pattern and high placement is amazing.

    I don't quite understand what you meant about how you hung the rod? It looks so seamless, I'm just curious. And I'm also curious about the sheet. I take it you just cut it in half?

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    1. Thanks Kim!

      Yes, I cut the sheet in half. I made a note in the post now. Thanks for pointing that out. :)
      The rod is and 8 foot long i-beam that is hung from the top of the "i" with small brackets to the ceiling (I think there's three). The bottom of the i-beam is unobstructed so that curtains can move along the window without anything in the way. You can also buy more i-beam and use little joiner clips to make it longer. Hopefully that clears things up!

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  5. I love this pattern! It looks great in the boys' room!

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    1. Thanks Kathryn. I love my Marimekko!

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  6. Aaahh! I've been wanting curtains like that since seeing something similar on pinterest, but these are WAY better! Can't believe they used to be a sheet! Wish they were still available otherwise I'd copycat this asap!

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    1. Thanks Amy. :) You can still buy the kivet fabric in the reverse (white circles on black) from Marimekko: http://usstore.marimekko.com/fabric/kivet-cotton-fabric.asp. It's a little more pricey than a sheet though. :(

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  7. The room is turning to be one of those TO DIE FOR. :D I love the curtains and I'm not surprised that the Moomin chair attracted your little helper. I've been looking for those myself but have not quite been able to justify the price. :) YIKES! Good job aiti! Hugs!

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    1. Thanks friend! :) I have a very generous sister and mom who purchased two of the chairs and the table for the boys for Christmas. They may end up in the basement, but if I can find a spot for them upstairs I may keep them there since they're so nice.

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  8. those look great! perfect in that room! and I need to get one of those magic chairs that toddlers actually WANT to sit still in ;)

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    1. I found him sitting in it again today - just hanging out in his chair. :)

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    1. Thanks Julia! It really is one of my favourite patterns.

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  10. very nice! and it's nice to know that they can easily be used in any other room or can stay in the boys' room for a long time (they aren't juvenile)... like in a living room ;) ... or on a dinning table ;) (which is where one of our curtains started long, long ago)
    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rvlU_zrhAME/Ur5hLmy5UJI/AAAAAAAAGwo/nTRQtOpVhko/s1600/black+himmeli+.jpg

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    1. I had the same fabric as yours on order to our vacation home last summer, but they were out of stock and couldn't get it to me while I was Stateside. The sheet ended up working really well in the end though. Love the reverse white on black too. :)

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    2. i remember when i had asked mikko's mom to bring me some 'kivet' fabric from finland - six years ago - i had asked for 'black on white' circles - but they don't sell it as fabric on a bolt. marimekko only uses it on bedding (except for the larger version)... luckily it is a classic fabric so i was able to order the exact same to make the other curtain (i washed it twice to even out the colour to the old piece of fabric)

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  11. these look amazing...clever to use a sheet...
    love the bold pattern!

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  12. That is perfect for your home and it doesn't get much better than making them from a sheet :) xo Kristin

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    1. Thanks Kristin. I think I like it much better as curtains than a sheet. ;)

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  13. I love the look of the curtains hung without a traditional rod. Where do you find the i beam hardware?

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    1. The i-beam was purchased from home depot. It cam with the necessary hardware in an 8 foot long piece. They also had additional parts (sold separately) if you wanted to join two or more together depending on what length you need. This is the one I bought: http://www.homedepot.ca/product/i-beam-track-8-ft/912338

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  14. I love your style so much. These curtains are great I love that you made them from a bed sheet - way to think outside the box! Love it.

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    1. Thanks so much Chelsea. I really love the pattern and love it as curtains.

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  15. I love everything you do so naturally I love these. They are perfect!

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    1. Thanks Taryn. :) I'm so pleased with how the boys' room is turning out so far.

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  16. Oh my gosh, I'm obsessed! These are incredible!!

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  17. I like them as curtains than on the bed.....:-). They look perfect for the room.

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