Making curtains

When JoAnn Fabrics had all of their home fabrics 50% off, I bought enough fabric to make curtains or valances for 9 windows. That includes the living room, dining room, breakfast room, family room and master bedroom. I decided that I should start with the master bedroom because there won't be as many people seeing those curtains as in all the other rooms.

Yesterday was the first day that I had a chance to start working on them, so the very first thing that I needed to do was cut the fabric the right length and cut down the width. It turns out that the fabric we picked for the bedroom is 60 inches wide instead of the usual 54 inches wide. Now, I am not a seamstress by any means so maybe I just don't know what I am doing, but cutting the fabric is much harder than I thought it would be. Of course, maybe it is also easier when you are just cutting the selvages off the edge instead of having to cut 3 inches off each side, but it is so hard to keep the fabric straight. I am using a rotary cutter and a 24"X36" cutting mat (which BTW, is one of the largest that they sell) - but considering the fact that one curtain should be 81" long and 54" wide, that mat is hardly big enough. I have this fear that once I start sewing I will realize that what I worked so hard to keep straight is not straight at all.

No wonder most people just buy curtains at Bed Bath and Beyond or somewhere.