Vintage Curtains From a Well-used Table Cloth.

My Mom was a picnic person.

Summer days were often spent 

somewhere near a picnic table,

whether it be away for the day,

or at home in our 4 foot deep swimming pool

where lazy summer days were spent making whirl pools

and playing Marco Polo

till our pruney fingers were blue with cold.

Wherever we were,

Mom always had picnic suppers ready.

And picnic tables to a super clean mom like mine

always needed table cloths.

As I have set for myself the goal of finishing the kitchen this month,

after almost 8 years of living here,

to finally have it painted and fixed up,

for the most part,

the next thing on my list last week was

curtains.

I loved the ideas I saw on Pinterest of using vintage towels,

hankies, and

linens

transformed into curtains.
http://pinterest.com/pin/108508672241652277/
http://pinterest.com/pin/108508672241648171/
http://pinterest.com/pin/108508672241648176/
http://pinterest.com/pin/108508672241648183/
http://pinterest.com/pin/108508672241648168/
(What FUN all of these ideas are!)

I spent some time looking around for vintage material,

and then I remembered...


the tablecloth:

My Mom gave me this tablecloth.
It is stained and patched where the umbrella went
on her picnic table.

It has seen many happy summer days.

I brought it out from the cupboard,
and measured
and remeasured
then cut it up so that I could get two curtains for the door window
and a valance for each of the two kitchen windows.

Digging through my container full of zippers,

rick-rack,

and bias tape I bought up in huge quantity at a yard sale long ago,...

I found the perfect lime green bias tape for my curtains.

A fearsome amount of measuring and ironing

ensued for an anti-ironing woman.

I stitched the underside with the bias tape tucked under the hem first,
then folded the fronts down,
and sewed across the top on the right side.





The curtain rod was rusty gold metal
and very unbecoming,
albeit quite vintage.

So I opted out of that look
by painting a coat of Annie Sloane Antibes Green paint
and then waxing with Fiddes and Son Rugger brown wax.




Despite the obvious stains on the curtains,
I'm loving it.




The kitchen door now offers a bit of privacy at night...

while letting in the sun when I come down in the morning.

The blooming Christmas cactus seems to mirror it's new pink-flowered companion.

Now, if I can just keep the little hands from adding any more stains to my pretty curtains...

I guess a few more small ones would be worth it

if they see the same kind of love that they did in their tablecloth life.

Do you carry any fond table-cloth memories?

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