Sewing projects

I have a simple way to judge the success of my sewing endeavors:

How many needles did I break?

Only on rare occasions do I pull out my sewing machine, and I think it's because deep down I know I don't really know what I'm doing.  It reached an all time low while I was trying to make the skirt pictured below, probably a bit too ambitious for my non-skills.  I spent almost an entire Saturday cutting, and pinning, and breaking needle after needle.  I eventually ran out of needles, and let the sewing mess sit on my floor all weekend until I resumed the project the next week.  

At that point I knew things either needed to change, or I was done.  (I couldn't afford 5+ needles per project!)  So I went in to buy more needles, and the nice lady at Joanne's showed me a thing or two about my sewing machine that made things easier.  (Proper threading, and other little tricks so the strings didn't get caught.)  It's made a world of difference, but I still break needles. 

Now that we've been in our apartment for a year and a half, I decided it was time to replace the the lacy curtains that came with the place.  They're not exactly my style.  Plus, straight lines aren't a big deal, right?

So I took those down, bought some fabric, and set to work.  Here we are!

I wish I took a picture of the mess in the family room while I was in the middle of this project.  I had cut scraps and thread all over the place.  A lot of the windows in Germany have curtain tracks on the ceiling, then you buy hooks with wheels that go in.  It took 3 attempts to figure out a good way to attach those hooks, but once I did, it worked great.  

So was this project a success:  Yes/Almost!  I only broke one needle, and considering the length of the curtains, I'm pretty happy.  

Now I just need to decide if I like the curtains flat (left) or wavy (right).  At the moment, they're still wavy because once they were up I mentally closed that book.  But at some point I might cut off a few feet so the fabric is just a flat panel.  But that will require more cutting and sewing....

While I was ordering fabric for this room, I decided to make curtains for two other rooms so I could get free shipping on fabric.com.  Tiago's room got curtains, as well as the guest bathroom. 

The bathroom ended up a bit more girly than planned, but I do love the fabric.  And it was basically just a few straight lines and ironing, to give some extra privacy and a pop of color.  No broken needles.

Then I made curtains for Tiago's room.  Was this project a success?  No!  I broke 3 needles I think.  Good thing my curtain-making is done, at least until we move away from Germany.  [Or until I decide my kitchen is boring.]