Creating your own window treatments can be very rewarding, but also a little intimidating even for people with sewing experience. Every project should start with a plan so here are some points to consider when attempting to create your own window treatments:

1.) Evaluate Your Space:

Think you know the perfect window treatment for your project? Don?t be surprised to find obstructions or challenges to slow you down. Light fixtures, molding, thermastats,or art work cannot always be moved. Low or high ceilings can be challenging. So pay attention to the immediate wall space and ceiling where the window is located. If the window swings inward or has a hand crank, your design options will be affected. If the treatment is going on a door you will need check for potential problems when the door is opened. Does the window embrace a magnificent garden or lake view? Or perhaps you find yourself looking directly into the neighbor?s bedroom or your neighbor looking into yours! Window treatments can work wonders to hide or emphasize your view. Otherthings to consider: sun control, privacy, kids, pets.

2.) Identify Installation Challenges:

Don?t wait until you are all done with your window treatment to start thinking about how you are going to install it. If you are not familiar with installing window treatments, grab a friend, carpenter, or your husband/significant other to help you. Locating the wall studs and determining if there are any installation challenges up front will save you disappointment and headaches later.

3.) Gather Information:

You don?t have to be a trained designer to think like one. Designers gather all sorts of information about their client early on in the process so that they can design for their client?s personal style. Get a head start in understanding your personal style and design choices. Here are some things to consider: 1.) How does the room function? 2.) Who uses the room? 3.) Do the treatments need to be stationary or functional? 4.) Formal or informal? 5.) What?s your color scheme? Use sources of inspiration if you plan to re-paint. 6.) Sources of inspiration can be a starting point. Heirlooms, pillows, treasured items from travels, nature, hobbies. Your personality should show! 7.) Collect pictures from magazines to get a sense of your style and what you like. Make a list of what you don?t like. 8.) Great design element or design flaw? Some rooms/homes were designed by individuals who don?t know anything about window treatments! Window treatments can camouflage problems or emphasize great details. 9.) What?s the focal point of the room? There should only be 1 focal point. Window Treatments make a wonderful focal point for rooms that lack interest. 10.) What?s the mood I want to achieve? All of the room?s elements including the window treatments will evoke an emotional response. Figure out the feeling ? romantic, whimsical, relaxed, cheerful ? and making your choices will be easier.

4.) Narrow Your Choices:

Okay, so now you?ve got some ideas about what will work and what won?t work for your space. Now it?s time for the hard part ? making some decisions. With so many choices today, making a final choice can be difficult but if you followed the steps outlined, at least you can narrow your choices for design and fabric to 3-5. Your final design should fit all of your criteria from the information you?ve gathered. Remember the feeling you want to create. Which of your final selections strikes that emotional response the best? If possible, purchase a half to a full yard of your fabric choices and view them at different times during the day and evening. Like paint, fabric colors will look different under different lighting conditions, so take your time.

5.) Plan Your Project:

There is no doubt about it, you will spend more time planning than sewing. With final decisions made, take measurements. It is important to take accurate measurements. Outside mounted treatments can accommodate measuring mistakes better than inside mounted ones. Choose the right fabric for your project. For example, don?t choose a stiff fabric for swags which require fabric with drape. Consider if the fabric design will get lost in the folds of your treatment. Very small patterns can look great up close, but can look muted from a distance. If your fabric has a design repeat, decide design placement and plan on enough yardage. Check your pattern or resource books on how and where to measure, calculating yardage, and for more information about fabrics. It?s a good idea to sketch out your yardage layout. Miscalculations can result in not enough fabric or too much fabric, both money wasters. By sketching out your yardage layout, you can not only be assured that you?ve anticipated problems, but you can sometimes save on yardage by doing this.

6.) Find the Best Methods for Fabricating Your Window Treatment:

If possible, check your fabric for flaws before you purchase it or at least before you cut! Put a piece of blue painters tape on them and then determine how you can work around them. If too many flaws, return the fabric. Research how-to books and other resources for the best fabrication methods. If you are an experienced sewer, you?ve undoubtedly collected several tips and techniques that work well for most situations. Finally, cut, sew, and install. Congratulations! You?ve just created the perfect (?) window treatment! Of course, there is no such thing as perfect. Don?t hesitate to rip things out and start over, but only to a point. Unless it is very obvious to the eye, chances are most people will never notice your mistake. Remember, mistakes are opportunities to find creative ways to correct them.

?Sitting down to write this page, my mind is racing with paper quilling ideas.

# What is paper quilling?

Well it could be described as the art of rolling, folding, twisting or otherwise shaping narrow strips of paper and arranging them to create beautiful designs.

It isn’t a new craft, in fact it has been around for hundreds of years. Back in the 13th century nuns quilled paper strips cut from the gold edged pages in their bibles and created decorations for religious artifacts. Quilling gets its name from these past times when a quill feather was used to roll the paper around.

Today paper quilling ideas include decorating cards, scrapbooks, invitations, gift tags and frame mounts. Some people even make 3D models with the same quilling techniques.

# What do you need?

Quilling is an affordable craft needing little in the way of equipment, although like many other hobbies it is easy to get carried away! To start with, all you need is a tool for rolling the paper, strips of paper in various widths, and glue.

Some toothpicks for applying the tiny amounts of glue needed would also be helpful, as would tweezers and a quilling board. The board, normally made of cork has a plastic template on the top in which you can place your paper coils before you glue them, helping to create shapes of similar sizes.

As you progress through learning the craft, a paper fringer or even an onion holder (we’ll come back to that one later!) are useful tools.

#Quilling tools

Quilling tools come in all shapes and sizes. It is important that the head of the tool is long enough for the paper you wish to use. If it is too short, the paper will keep falling off, which can be frustrating when you are trying to learn a new craft.

As a beginner you may find a slotted tool easier to use. Many of these have a “collar” or section that the paper can rest on making it easier to roll it evenly. The end of the paper is threaded through the slot which helps to keep it in place. Find out how to use a slotted quilling tool in our basic paper quilling instructions.

However this simple to use tool does have a slight drawback. The hole in the centre of your shape tends to be bigger and the paper has a kink or fold in it. This is shown in the first of our free quilling patterns where two shapes worked with different tools are compared.

As you get more experienced you may move on to the needle tool or even to rolling with your fingers only. It is possible to achieve a smaller central hole this way. The needle tool can also be used to make spirals. A needle tool is basically a long needle with its eye end set into a wooden or metal handle. The best trick I picked up when learning to use a needle tool was to moisten the end of the paper first! It makes starting off your rolling much easier.

Expert quillers often find that they don’t need a tool at all! They can roll the paper strips using just their fingers and thumbs. And they can get a tiny hole in the centre of their rolls too. But this does take practice, it is fine to start with the slotted tool.

# Paper quilling ideas for you

Paper quilling ideas include balloons, birds, hearts, bows, animals, toys, people, common household objects, butterflies even jewelery, they can all be made from quilled shapes. Decorations for Easter, Christmas, weddings, new babies or Thanksgiving are all possible. Borders, boxes or fans add to the range of possibilities.