the Curtain-Along is a go!

I was really overwhelmed by all the wonderful responses that I got to the idea of having a curtain-along project, so I'm going to make this thing official and get us all started!  Woohoo!

First of all, I wanted to give you some more accurate measurements on the amount of fabric that you are getting in each curtain.  The dimensions given on the package are 50" wide by 84" long, but once you unpick the hems, it is actually 53" wide by 96" long (134 cm X 244 cm).  Sometimes those extra inches really help.  You also get a tieback that adds another 8 1/2" by 26" piece of fabric when it is unpicked (21 cm X 66 cm).  That averages out to $7.50 a yard for the creme fabric and $9.36 for the noir and crimson if you buy the curtain panels from Lowe's. This is quite a bargain compared to the same fabric at Joann's which is selling for $17.50 to $22.50 per yard on sale.

Some people have mentioned that Lowe's will not ship internationally, but I found the creme and noir curtains on Amazon (creme, noir), and Sears (creme, noir).  I also saw a few on ebay, and I'm sure there are other venues that I am overlooking.  You might try searching for Waverly Felicite to find other sellers.  I couldn't find the crimson colorway anywhere other than Lowe's, but if you don't have access to a Lowe's and that's the color that you are interested in using for the curtain-along, let me know and I'll buy some and ship them to you. Also, I thought that if any of us end up with left-over cuts from our curtains, I could help you advertise that here and maybe somebody would like to buy half of a curtain for a small garment, or maybe they just need a little extra to finish a project.

So what can you make with the amount of fabric that you are getting in a curtain?  Well, from what I have calculated so far, half of a curtain (or less) should be enough for a baby or toddler dress, a spencer, a man's waistcoat, a boy's jacket, doll clothes, or a fabric-lined bergiere.  One curtain will make a petticoat, a jacket, a caraco, a bedgown, a bibbed apron, a girl's dress, a medium sized cloak, or a banyan for a smaller person.  Two curtains would be necessary for a matching skirt and jacket, a round gown, an open robe, a long cloak, or a banyan for a larger man.  You would probably need three curtain panels for a robe a la francaise, a polonaise, or any other type of gown with a full overskirt and matching petticoat.

I have updated my Pinterest board with direct links to the curtains at Lowe's, and I've decided to also include links to in-progress blog posts on Pinterest in addition to just posting the finished photos.  Pinterest is such a great way to keep up with all the links, so I thought it might be easier to track multiple projects there vs. making people search back through my blog entries for links.  Let me know when you start sewing your projects, and I'll add a link to you blog on my Curtain-Along board so everybody can see what you are working on.  Oh, and because a sew-along isn't really official without a badge, I made one in case any of you want it. Feel free to grab and use the small or large icons however you want, or you can also embed my pin of the badge from Pinterest if that is easier for you.  But please don't feel like you have to use this badge or include a particular link or anything like that.  I just made it for fun.  :)

And with that, I will leave you with this excellent article by Kendra exploring the history of 18th c. Indienne print fabrics, and I also made a new Pinterest board of Indienne print inspiration which documents a variety of garments that use similar colorways to the Waverly curtians, and it also has plenty of examples of bold, large-scale botanical prints.   I can't wait to see what you all make!