A Productive DIY Start to the Weekend

A few weeks ago, my friend Andrea asked me about recovering her dining room chairs for her living room. We set a date and I brought my upholstery tools over to her house. I helped her with the first chair and then she proceeded to do the remaining chairs on her own.

She liked the fabric sooooo much that she decided that she wanted to use it to make a window treatment for her living room. To get a better idea of what she had in mind and settle on a design, I asked her a few questions. Later, I showed her a few patterns from my stash and she picked Butterick 5480.

I happen to have a long history with this discontinued pattern; I have used it made window treatments for my sister-in-law and a friend. And having worked for Butterick , it was one of those patterns that generated a lot of calls. Although simple in construction, the thickness of the layered folds are a challenge for even an industrial machine.

The seamstress she had lined up to make her window treatment never used a pattern before. After helping Andrea cut out the pieces, I attempted to explain the construction process to her with the hopes that she could explain it to her seamstress. After getting a number of blank stares from her, I realized it would be quicker to sew it myself. And so I did. We spent Friday evening, hanging them.