Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Fabric Guru

Those who really know me know that I have a thing for making my own curtains. There's just something so gratifying about choosing your own fabric, and creating a space-defining window treatment that really makes a room fantastic. Curtains are also one of the easiest bang-for-your buck transformations-- right up there with paint. Take for example Exhibit A: the large and boring window in our living room.


Despite the transformation that paint made with this space, it was still relatively dead looking. The neutral walls and furniture really needed something to break up the hard edges of the dark wood trim, and bring some life to the room in the way of color. I knew that some gorgeous fabric could really pull that off, so I started searching the Internet for discount fabric. Those who know me also know that I really love to save a buck, so the Internet is one of the best ways to find great, quality fabrics at a low cost! This is where I discovered FabricGuru.com, and fell in love. Not only is their website extremely easy to navigate, but they've got thousands of fabric patterns and textures to choose from, and shipping is just $4.99 for any amount of fabric! They have fabric by the yard, and also pre-cut portions. Being the thrifty person that I am, the first place I searched was the Clearance section. I already had a color scheme in mind: something in the blue and green range. There were so many choices to be made, but I ultimately narrowed it down to these two:




Ikat patterns seem to be a pretty popular trend these days, but I knew I had wanted to go for this type of pattern and color scheme after seeing the gorgeous curtains that Sherry Petersik made on one of my favorite blogs, Young House Love. The first pattern really seemed to be closer to the inspiration fabric, but at $110 for just 5 yards, it was a little pricey. The second fabric, however, was marked down to $4.95/yd! As much as I loved the versatile colors in the first, I just couldn't bring myself to spend over $100 on curtains. On just one window. The other fabric is just as pretty, and for the price I just couldn't pass it up. 6 yards of it found it's way into my cart, and before I knew it, I was hitting the "confirm order" button. 

Not only are the prices amazing on Fabric Guru, the shipping time was also lightning fast. I ordered this fabric late on a Thursday night, and found the package on my doorstep the following Tuesday. Overall, I am extremely pleased with my purchase, however there are a few things to note. First, the color is a little off from what I had expected, to be honest. That's one thing you'll have to take into consideration when ordering something online, though. The fabric color is described as teal, however, it appears to be more on the greenish end of that spectrum than the blue. I am not disappointed by any means, in fact, I kind of prefer the greenish tone to the teal. It's pretty unique. The second thing to note was something that Fabric Guru made apparent on the item listing, and was one of the reasons the fabric had been marked so low. There were random white spots in the fabric, and it was considered a defect. To be honest, I was a little nervous about buying something "defective", but my worries were squashed when I unraveled the bolt. You can't even really tell that it is a defect. In fact, it looks like part of the pattern. Another happy "accident". Here's a quick photo I snagged with my Ipad after unpacking the goods:


The quality of the picture isn't the best, but I think the fabric is going to make some beautiful curtain panels, and perhaps a pillow cover or two with any leftover fabric. If you're in the market for some excellent, cheap fabric for curtains, pillows, or anything else, you have got to check out what FabricGuru.com has to offer. Hopefully in the next few weeks, I'll be able to update this post with some finished curtain panels, and you'll be able to get a better glimpse at the beautiful teal Ikat design. Maybe I'll be able to help throw in a tutorial on easy-sew curtain panels, too. 

Who else is down with fabulous, cheap fabric for DIY projects? Do you have any great online or local resources to suggest? Have any great tips for making custom curtain panels? Please share them with us! 



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