Reconstructing Curtains Blues

[slccom]

So, I have 5 dogs who love, love, love to look out the picture window and bark and carry on. And grab the curtains. And rip them. And pull the curtain rod out of the wall. And bend the curtain rod... And the biggest one is only 35 pounds, going down to 8!

So, we reattached the curtain rod with 4" screws, keeping it in, but leading to the bending. Removed the pink curtains. Bought brownish/cream curtains in multiple, unconnected panels. I figured that if they could go between the panels it would solve the problem. No, still grab the curtains, pull, rip at the pleats, etc.

So, now I'm reconstructing the pleats, cut them way short so that they will go just a little below the couch back and not interfere with their pleasurable barking and carrying on. (Not my definition of pleasurable, mind!) For tough mending like the pleats, I use my go-to thread, dental floss. That stuff is tough! That is also what I use to mend dog toys. (Let's not go there -- I have so many dissected toys with destroyed squeakers that I may run out of dental floss!)

When the mending and hemming are done, I'll put them back up.

Wish me luck...

Sharon

[Gayle]

Good your so creative in repairs! I never thought of dental floss! Maybe it's the mint they love! LOL

[iraisin]

HA!

That sounds very familiar! Mine did the same thing in the house before I moved. This apartment has vertical blinds - but somehow they still manage dropping one at least every week. I keep a step stool handy so I can pop it back into the contraption of a rail they have.

The shorter length will definitely help. My bedroom has curtains and I had them puddling at first. The dogs like to "nest" in them at night and they were pulling them off the wall and bending the rod as well. I raised them (the whole rod and everything) to about an 1 1/2 inches off the floor and that did the trick.

Have fun! Gotta lovem'!

[Sooki]

When my daughter was young, I put up a beautiful curtain over the pantry opening. Floor length.  The cloth had a print of Asian goldfish swimming.  One day, I noticed that a 2" goldfish on the edge near the bottom had been neatly cut out.  When confronted, my daughter said she needed it for an art project.  And there is was, glued to a rather unremarkable collage.

So, I found the strip of leftover fabric, cut out a duplicate goldfish, and patched it to the curtain, where it stays now 17 years later!  No more curtain art projects.

We love cordura nylon dog toys - especially the ones with plastic drinking water bottles inside - lots of noise and they take longer to rip open!

How about leaving the curtains open there when you're away?  Anyone peeking in will see your vicious dog pack and run?

[slccom]

Sookie, my little "Blond" poodle, Nina, who was "Blond" in every sense of the word, was outside my office one day, and I hear this "Riiipppp" sound. That little stinker had pulled on a curled end of wallpaper and pulled off a foot-long strip of wallpaper!

If we hadn't had the same wallpaper in a closet which I could use to patch it, I would have glued her to the wall!

When sewing with dental floss, especially when repairing dog toys, do NOT use mint or cinnamon flavored floss. Use only the unwaxed, plain.

Buddy de-armed Mountain Man (Red/purple gingerbread-shaped toy) and I fixed the stump with cinnamon. He is now working on de-shouldering the poor thing. I need to refix with plain.

My sister-in-law fixed a couple of his toys on a visit, and he played with it for the rest of the time she was here. She said she has never felt so appreciated!

Life without dogs is boring!

Sharon

[Meld256]

Sharon,

I agree about living with dogs. They can make life interesting! 

Good luck with the curtain project; I'm sure your solution will work just fine.  Great idea about the dental floss, too.

Sookie, that's adorable about your daughter using the fish out of the curtain for her art project.  So cute how they think these things through. Or not; they just think "Hey, I need that!"

Iraisin,
We have a little Shih Tzu who will pile up on any fabric he can find, therefore we do not have long curtains. 

He's so bad, one night I was sitting at my desk wearing a long skirt that draped to the floor.  You guessed it...since he likes sitting close to us, he made a bed from the end of my skirt.

[artistangie]

Lol good luck!  I have cats and dogs and the kitties do more damage than the dogs to the curtains here

[susanep]

I smiled reading all of your stories about your fur babies. I don't know what we would do without them.

I love mine. My 4 dogs are at the tail end of shedding. No matter how much I brush their fur, it is never enough. So I am constantly picking up hair things during the week.

susanep

[slccom]

The hemming is done! Now just to wash them (gentle cycle) and rehang them.

Wish me luck!
Sharon

[slccom]

Well, the drapes are up and we'll see what happens!
Sharon

[Meld256]

Good job on the repairs, Sharon!

good luck with the dogs and the newly-hung drapes. 

[slccom]

Thanks! We used up all of our drapery slides, and you can't get them at Walmart any more, so I found some on Ebay. You don't need them often (well, most people don't...) but when you need them, you really need them NOW! $15 for 100  wasn't bad. The dogs have probably destroyed about 30 in the last few years.

I have privacy again! I can be naked in my house again! Yeah!

So far, so good. Of course, the dogs haven't been at the window yet today.

Sharon

[slccom]

So far, so good...
Sharon