Adapting a shower curtain liner for flanking curtains

Warning: This post does not boast pretty before and after pictures. It contains functional information which primarily highlights my ineptitude for sewing. You.are.welcome.

(Whew!) So, now that I’ve got that off my chest, let’s move on… Remember when I DIY’ed our extra long shower curtains with the help of my mother-in-law?

Well, let’s just say it was an embarrassingly long time after that until the shower was actually functional. All because we were lacking this guy…

A long shower curtain liner.

I found him at Target for around twelve beans (and then wondered why it took me so long to buy him). Once I got him home, the next step was to adapt him for our dual, flanking shower curtains. I started by cutting him in half. There was a nice, neat seam right down the middle, so I just followed that…

I have to say that cutting something so transparent was kind of trippy. I kept losing sight of the seam, thus, I mainly guided my scissors by touch whilst repeatedly calling the liner names.

Next, I brainstormed a bit. I wanted to ensure that any showering individuals had the ability to close the liners securely. I also wanted make it as foolproof as possible for them to close them the *right* way. Meaning, that I wanted the half of the liner that was closest to the shower head to lay on top. This way, water would flow over the seam without escaping the shower, rather than flowing between the seams if the liners were layered the opposite way. Then, I remembered this…

I snipped three even lengths and applied them, evenly-spaced, along the middle edges of my liner, again, verifying that the half closest to the showerhead was on top.

The sticky backing made placement easy, but was by no means secure. So, I busted out Dusty (aka: my sewing machine)…

I attempted to sew lines along the long edges of the Velcro to secure it in place. But, this happened a lot…

Then, there was The Thread Massacre of 2014…

But in the end, I had success…

Please don’t be intimidated by my talent. I’m just a normal person like any other. 😉

(P.S. I’m sure the sewing part can be done by hand if you don’t have a machine. Possibly even sans Thread Massacre! 🙂 ) Once hung, you can see how they came together (as I stood in the bathtub and Vanna Whited my beautiful craftsmanship)…

So, this may not be my most attractive project to date, but it sure goes a long way to making our shower useable, which is priceless in itself. Maybe one day, when the sewing gods send coordination and patience my way, I’ll reattempt this project to pretty it up a bit, but as of now I’m just happy to have it done. Plus, I’m pleased to report that for the first time since JANUARY (back when I painted our tile bath surround), showers are now fair game in the guest bath. Woo-hoo!

So, how about you guys? Any functional projects going on as of late?