drop cloths are a great feature to use outdoors in all kinds of ways.
they're cheap, tough, come in assorted sizes and launder easily.
i use them as draperies in the corners of the pergola
that i put up for special occasions,
such as garden tours and teas.
i struggled a bit in knowing what to use to hang them.
i went to a lot of bother time to measure, cut and sew ties on
but it took faeva! to hang 'em,
though the black ties looked kinda cool.
i needed to come up with something faster and simpler...
simple drapery rods, of course...DUH!
i mean, really, where was the brain?!
these are very quick and easy to put up and take down...
but i think i need to get sturdier ones.
and they make lovely tablecloths...
draping so lovely and a match to any color or tablescape.
i use 'em as panels on the pergola-type roof over the back deck...
i love, love that!
lots of ambiance, especially in the evening...
but really, anytime of the day -
it even gives the light in the dinning room right inside the door a different look.
this one measured 12x15 ft and was perfect for the job.
i cut it to size and hemmed the sides, using the pre-hemmed side for the short ends.
love, love, love!
(early summer pic)
i went to all kinds of twists, risks and shenanigns to attach the panels to the 'roof''
until i thought of...
VELCRO!
i mean, another DUH! and works slick as can be!
i use clip-on curtain rings to add enough of weight
to keep 'em from flipping back in a light wind.
for the twilight tour, i got the brainy idea to stencil 'fleur' on the panels.
it didn't take long at all and this was my first fabric venture into the stencil world.
using stencils DIL M kindly cut for me using her
WHATCHAMACALLIT.
i centered the panel by creasing a fold mark with my fingers,
then centering the letter...
traced around it with a pencil,
traced around that with a fine point permanent marker,
then filled it in with a fat permanent marker.
i stenciled a fleur-de-lis on the end panel.
ta-da...easy-peasy!
sunday evening bro E & R were our guests and we played table games here.
i hung my blue jars with a candle inside in an antique jar thingamajig.
talking about ambiance...
it really was lovely!
so the next time you're doing an outdoor project with cloth,
think of drop cloths.
but do wash and dry 'em IN THE DRYER
before you do ANYTHING with 'em!
you'll be sad if you don't 'cause drop cloths shrink.
...blessedness!
