Thursday, October 17, 2013

One Room Challenge with Calling It Home: Week Three

 
Today, I was going to talk about what I am putting on the walls of the laundry room...wallpaper, stencil, something else... But I am still struggling with what to do, so for this week, at least, I am moving on to....

Window curtains and fabric

I want to make short curtains to hang on the window above the washer and dryer.



I was inspired by the fabric on this couch designed by Dorothy Draper.

 
Being the state flower of West Virginia, the Rhododendron can be found in the decor of Dorothy Draper's revamp of the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, WV. From wallpaper, curtains and rugs to the plates and dishes, the flower made it's way on to many things. You can even now buy PJ's with the Draper Rhododendron print.


I have always loved this flower especially the pink version, although I have also seen it bloom in white, purple, red, orange, and yellow. When I went on the traditional three day backpacking trips with my childhood summer camp, we would often hike through mountains covered with these beautiful flowering bushes.


So with my inspiration in mind,  I was off to hunt for rhododendron patterned fabric to make the curtains. Here are a few of my finds...


Of course, here I ran into a problem. While I found some beautiful fabric patterns, I felt like Goldilocks who couldn't find one that was "just right". The fabric was either outside my budget, not the right colors, or only available to the trade. I even looked on Etsy and Ebay, but no luck. I know I was being a little bit of a perfectionist here!

Then I remembered Linda's post about Spoonflower.com. I watched a few of their You Tube videos to get a feel for how to create my own fabric. (I must admit I never really thought about repeats in a fabric pattern...now I know.) While the website did suggest some programs to make the design, I stuck to what I know and used Paint and then saved the image as a picture file to my computer. Once I got a feel for doing it, creating my pattern for the fabric was easy. I was able to make it exactly what I wanted. I felt so cool when I was done...I have now created fabric!

There is the option to order a sample first, but I am on this tight ORC deadline see, so I just went all it and ordered the yardage I needed.

It will arrive in about a week and a half. I will be on pins and needles waiting until it gets here! I think curtains made from this fabric will be such an improvement to the laundry room.

Be sure to check out all the other One Room Challenge linking participants by clicking here.

22 comments:

  1. I cannot wait to see the fabric you created, how exciting! I also absolutely LOVE fabric #2, and you can't beat that price... You have a great eye!

    XOXO,
    The Glam Pad

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    1. Thanks! I admit I came real close to ordering that fabric, but I worried how that type of fabric would hang as a curtain. Hopefully someone else will find a great way to use it.

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  2. I love using Spoonflower and have had great luck. I am really excited to see your fabric.

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  3. I've never used Spoonflower but totally need to. Can't wait to see your fabric - hope it's turns out just as you wanted it to!

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    1. I hope it turns out well too! Can't wait till it arrives...

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  4. WAIT!!!!! I HAVE THAT DOROTHY DRAPER FABRIC!!! Or at least Carleton Varney's version of it. It is a lavender background with pink flowers. I'd be happy to send it to you!!!

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    1. That is so kind of you to offer that! I already ordered the fabric , or I probably would have taken you up on that. Maybe next time...

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    2. If yours doesn't work out, I'm just an overnight away. :)

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  5. How exciting! I love that you made your own fabric. I've been wanting to try that, can't wait to see yours!!

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    1. It was fun to try something different like this. Once I figured out what to do, it was easier than I thought it was going to be.

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  6. I've never tried spoonflower, I'm excited to see how your fabric turns out. I love that #5 fabric and I'm sure I've seen something similar at Calico Corners if you're still on the lookout.

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    1. Yes, that was one I considered, but I wanted different coloring. I know...I was trying to be too perfect.

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  7. You took my Spoonflower suggestion to a whole new level. I did not design fabric. I'm not that brave. I am so excited to see yours. I heard that the repeats are the hardest part. This is impressive.

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    1. I appreciate the heads up about the website. It was really fun...something I never thought I would do.

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  8. Oh I am so intimidated by spoonflower ... cannot wait to see what you have created! xo

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    1. I was also not sure at first if it would work...and I haven't seen the fabric yet, so we will see! But after watching the videos and playing around with it a little bit, it worked out fairly well.

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  9. Looking forward to seeing what you created!!! I will have to check out Spoonflower. I love fabric #3...I am a huge CV and DD fan....love the colors!

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  10. Creating repeats in paint....I can not fathom. Can't wait to see the fabric!

    Claire

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  11. Spoonflower rocks and I can't wait to see what you did and how it will look there on that window!

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  12. Ooh, I'm excited to see how your Spoonflower fabric works out. I've never had a good enough reason to order from them, but believe me, I'm looking for one.

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