no-sew curtain

You may have noticed in the last post a little project I've been working on.  In order to make our tiny little apartment feel more like a home we've been decorating and organizing up a storm.  The apartment came with hospital-grade ugly blue curtains.  Since we live just off the street, when the curtains are open you can look in and see all of the little space we have, but when they're closed they keep out most of the natural light offered by the big windows.  To spruce up the space a bit and to maintain privacy while still letting in some sunshine I decided to improvise a curtain of my own.  

After picking out some fun and cheap fabric at IKEA I grabbed the no-sew hemming tape normally used to shorten drapes.  That's right, no sewing machine was used in the making of this curtain. Following the simple directions on the hemming tape package, I folded over the part I was going to "hem" and ironed a good crease (being the perfectionist that I am, I measured carefully, pinned the hem, and then ironed).

Then I tucked the hemming tape into the crease and ironed again.

I did this for the bottom and sides, and then had to figure out how I was going to hang the curtain.   I bought clips that have hooks on the top for hooking into the existing curtain hanger things (that's a technical term) that are permanently installed.  Unfortunately, when clipped to the top of the fabric, there was an inch-wide gap between the top of the curtain and the top of the window.  Fortunately, I had a bit of extra fabric to work with to resolve the issue.

I folded over the top of the fabric, making the curtain the correct length for the window, and ironed in the hemming tape there.  Then using the extra length fabric I folded some back over, leaving about an inch gap between the top of the fabric to be hooked and the top of the curtain itself.  Maybe you need to reference the picture to understand this step?

After doing all of this folding and ironing, all I had to do was clip the hooks on to the shorter piece hidden behind and put it up!  Not a stitch was sewn. 

Here's the finished product - lighting up the place (literally and figuratively) in all it's handmade glory.

One note: I don't recommend this method if you want your curtain to last longer than the 8 months we expect ours to.

Not bad, huh?  It even coordinates with our green couch and green and blue comforters and green and white shlves.  When livingroom, bedroom, guestroom, and kitchen all share the same space, it's important to make it look like it all goes together.  Hopefully when we move back to America I'll have bigger projects to work on, though I doubt I'll be using a sewing machine then either.

Mata ne,
Melissa

happy new year!

It is already 2010 in Tokyo and for those of you who are behind, I can assure you it's going to be a good year.

Here we all are right before the clock strikes midnight.  Clearly, Jeff was reeeeaaaly excited.

The new family dipping our big American feet into a Japanese New Year's Eve tradition.  Where are we and what's going on?  Patience is a virtue, people.  Admittedly, not one I have mastered.  Procrastination on the other hand....

Mata ne,
Melissa

visitors!!

Michael and Sara (Jeff's brother and sister) are in Japan!!!


They arrived this evening and managed to hang out for a few hours before jetlag overtook them.  

They did, however, bring us the best cupcakes in the world.  

All the way from Brooklyn: The Little Cupcake Bakeshop

More to report soon. 


Mata ne, 
Melissa

hora

While sorting through wedding photos looking for a specific picture (see below) I came across a few gems I just had to share:

I think our faces here say it all.

Oh my.

What can I say?  I didn't marry him for his dancing skills.

Mata ne,

Melissa

two months!

Yesterday marked two months since we moved to Tokyo.  I can hardly believe it.  It feels like we've been here for way longer.  We've already moved once, traveled to a few different places, and enjoyed the company of friends from America.  We're not coming home anytime soon, but we are looking forward to our first official houseguests!

Michael and Sara, Jeff's brother and sister, will be spending two weeks exploring Tokyo and celebrating the new year with us.  We're so excited!  Safe travels, and we'll see you at Narita soon!

Mata ne,
Melissa