The backsplash was installed this week in the master bathroom, and I can see a light at the end of the remodeling project tunnel!
The mirror-measuring man is scheduled to come Monday and so is the plumber, who will install the tub filler, tub (which is currently full of rainwater on the back porch), and wall faucets for the sinks.
My tile man is apparently too busy to return and finish the job, so my painter (a good friend) is going to cut the final piece of tile to go around the tub filler sometime this weekend. I’m watching YouTube videos on how to mix a little grout to fill in all the gaps the tile guy left along the walls.
Earlier this week, I received the decorative fabric tape from Etsy and set about pinning it to my cheap IKEA linen panels. Because the weight of the two fabrics is so different, I noticed that the linen was beginning to gather as I sewed the tape to it, even after I adjusted the tension (whatever that means ;)). As a result, I spent some time removing tiny stitches, much to my chagrin.
Luckily for me, my sister, who is a much better seamstress than I, came for dinner and suggested that I use an adhesive to bind the two fabrics. I dug through my grandmother’s supplies that I had inherited umpteen years ago and found a roll of very old fusible tape.
I slid two lengths of the fusible stuff under the edges of the decorative tape, folded the curtain over so I’d be applying heat to the linen side of the fabric sandwich, laid a damp kitchen towel over that, and applied a hot iron with a little pressure for a few seconds to bond the tape to the linen. It was so much easier than sewing!
After that, I ironed the panel the best as I could on my tiny fold-out ironing board and added curtain hardware to pinch some pleats into the top.
Then I spent the better half of an afternoon putting up a French curtain rod—one that curves around to the wall to eliminate gaps—and some pretty curtain rings. It was definitely a job for two people, but I was determined!
The curtains are a little short for this particular spot, but my tub will occupy 98% of the space in front of the curtains, and I cannot imagine that anyone would notice the high-water length of the curtains.
Now the remote-controlled Roman shade can go up and down, and no one cleaning the pool or mowing the yard will be able to get a peek at someone getting a shower in the master bathroom. I call that progress indeed!
