OK. I need your help. I am cutting and hemming my new red curtains for the living room. Our consensus was that the shorter length is better than down to the floor.

The question comes as to how to attach the tops. There is a wooden dowel/curtain rod at the top inside that valance that Paul built. The first photo below shows them hung with clip-on rings and going down farther past the windowsill.




And the picture below shows the wooden rod going thru the top hem/pocket, no rings involved, and also shortened up by about 2 inches in length.



Paul was here before helping me decide but he's gone out to do some errands and now I can't decide.

I have to say that using clip-on rings makes opening and closing them (which we plan to do every night and every morning) a lot easier than pushing the fabric back and forth on the rod. However, Paul says he can wax the rod if it is too sticky. It's just that with the rings, the curtains stay where you put them, but with the rod in the fabric, they tend to inch back toward the center, and I don't want my curtains to look permanently closed.

So that's my dilemma. Rings or no rings.

I think we are both in agreement that the shorter length is better (photo #2 above), so that's not at issue.

I've spent the better part of this morning just cutting the panel in half, heming up the side and folding over and pinning/pressing the top hem so far. I am rusty at sewing, I have arthritis in my hands, my eyes are old and need glasses to see, threading the sewing machine needle is a challenge, not to mention getting the bobbin wound with the red thread and put in place.

I had to put two extra leaves in the dining room table at first to work on and I couldn't get the table to close up properly, so that took forever and I had to get Paul to help me in the end.

So this is taking me longer than I had planned. And I have only gotten this far on ONE pair of curtains, and I have THREE more to go just in the living room.

Paul says he'd like these in his room, too, so I will be making even more of them for his room later, but I kind of thought it would be nice to have these done for Thanksgiving. Now I'm not so sure that will happen. I got a call from work and they have work for me for tomorrow so that is my first priority.

Oh well. Let me know what you like better. #1 or #2.

Thanks and cheers,

Bex