Curtain & Pillow set

The largest project I took on for Christmas was a curtain and pillow set for my sister-in-law.  She recently moved into a new place, and I get measurements for her windows to make custom curtains.  She wanted something with lace that was fairly neutral, so I set out to make something given that combination.  I ended up with two fabrics, a nice ivory lace and a neutral satin, that I wanted to put together to create a lace effect that would not be see-through so that the curtains could provide privacy when needed.

My mother-in-law suggested a tension-rod curtain that could pull together in the center since the walls in the apartment were not friendly to hanging curtain rods.  Here they are open and closed (in my doorway - hopefully they look more stylish in their rightful place!).

I made a ribbon with a button and button hole to pull together the circle, as shown below.

To attach the lace and create the tension rod sleeves, I used a tight and wide ziz-zag stitch to make sure it all held well.  This was the first project that required more than one thread spool for me!

After making two of these, I decided to make two pillows that would match for her room!  I bought some 14"x14" pillows and used the same materials to make pillowcases with zippers along the bottom.

This was definitely the most difficult project I have taken on yet, but I learned a lot and really enjoyed it.  I was really happy with the end product and I know I'll get to use what I learned in other projects.  Once I get some pictures of these in their rightful place I'll try to post again!