Grain Sack Shower Curtain: My Experience and Additional Tips

Hola my friends!

I hope this post finds you happy, well and in a creative mood because today I am going to chat up my experience in following the The Cozy Old Farmhouse's blog on how to make a DIY Grain Sack Shower Curtain made with a painters drop cloth. I found this shower curtain on Pinterest one day, and knew I had to give it a try. 

*I would suggest to first read the The Cozy Old Farmhouse blog through, then read my comments and tips, so you know what I am referring to in the step process.*

Finished product: My farmhouse bathroom with a handmade grain sack shower curtain and tin wall paneling.  

The first step in Stephanie's post is to purchase a painters canvas drop cloth. And just like she promises, the drop cloth is only about $9.97 at the good 'ol Walmart! 

As suggested in her blog, I bleached the drop cloth according to Miss Mustard Seed's blog (#2 "How to bleach a drop cloth"). This step was very easy. 

All was good and dandy until...

I finished washing the drop cloth. (Insert a face of frustration). Stephanie from the The Cozy Old Farmhouse said she washed the drop cloth, and "kept the width the same, but cut quite a bit off of the length" and simply "sewed a wide double layer tab/seam along the top". I was not as lucky (or as skilled as Stephanie I am sure) to wash my drop cloth and have it come out in an appropriate size which would allow me to keep the width, chop the bottom and simply sew the top. I'm not sure why but my drop cloth shrunk after washing it. So in a panic (and predictable Sarah Beth move) I called my mom. She is the sewing queen and I had faith that she would know how to fix this. After about two hours of arranging, re-arranging and measuring, we figured out a plan to cut and sew. Here is what we did;

• We laid the drop cloth on the floor, with the longest part as the "top" of the shower curtain (folded over for the grommet placements to come). Then we placed an old shower curtain (or the current one on your shower) over the drop cloth to use as a measuring template. 
• We cut off the "extra" that was overflowing from the "top" of the drop cloth shower curtain. 
• We took the "extra" that we had just cut from the "top" and sewed it to the "bottom" of the shower curtain because it was not near as long as the old shower curtain! 
• Please note in my example picture below, when we sewed everything together, the tracing nor painting had taken place yet!

Showing where the "Top", "Bottom" is and where the "Extra" came from and went to.

Looking back on this sewing process now, it seems easy and logical. But when I was trying to figure it out it was very difficult and irritating! I was very thankful to have my mom there to help, and to sew... and make me dinner that night. I love you mom! :) 

To create the main logo/design, for anyone who doesn't have Photoshop, it would be difficult to change the wording or design of Stephanie's example. I would suggest finding a clear design online to use. But for me, I have Photoshop and I was able to re-create Stephanie's design but with "Coal Canyon Falls" written into it, to represent my home roots in Butte County. Or, if you had a small print from a logo, or something you found in a book/online/magazine, you could have the image scanned and then printed on a transparency sheet. (P.S. I skipped the "side" grain sack lines because I was starting to get lazy and wanted to do the minimum at this point... and I don't regret it). 

Stephanie used a lamination machine for her projector sheet, I used a transparency sheet that just runs through a regular printer. *Tip: instead of buying a whole box of transparency sheets, ask a teacher friend for one.*

Next in the blog, Stephanie tells you how to create your own projector with a cardboard box and your iPhone and by golly... it works! And it works well! So i suggest to just follow her steps because it was easy and successful. 

Now, about the tracing part. All I have to say is, be patient, give yourself lots of time (or a few days to do it) because it is very time consuming and your arms/hands will become very tired, very quickly. Drawing on a painters drop cloth with a pencil isn't as easy as it sounds. Good luck! 

I was unable to find the Extra Large eyelets (or grommets) in Walmart here in Chico, but had much better luck at Jo-Ann's (look in the sewing section of the store!). And the installation of these are simple enough. Follow the directions on the back of the grommet box and just hammer away! It was actually a lot of fun putting these in :) 

*Tip: Trace the holes from an old shower curtain to the drop cloth so you have measured-out grommet spaces*

Now that the shower curtain was washed, sewed, traced and grommet-ed- it was time to paint! Stephanie wrote that she used "craft paint". I may be missing something here from a lack of experience but I had no idea what just "craft paint" was because when you go to a craft store... nothing on the shelves says "Craft Paint"! Everything has a title or special name or special use. So I took a wild guess and purchased basic Arcylic Paint from Jo-Ann's and guess what... it worked! So if you are going to attempt this project I suggest Black acrylic paint. :) 

And again, just like the pencil tracing, be patient, give yourself lots of time (or a few days to do it) because it is very time consuming and you will want to make sure the paint has time to dry. If you have limited space (like me, I only had my kitchen table) I would do it in sections and roll up the space I wasn't painting. It took my about three days to get it all painted (only painting after work for about an hour or two).  

*Tip: if you want it to be more "worn out" like Stephanie's picture and not as dark as mine, paint very thin layers. I painted my layers thick, thinking some of it would wash out... it doesn't wash out! Paint it the way you want it to look!*

Left: "worn out" look from The Cozy Old Farmhouse Right: thick layered paint from Calamity Jane Would Have

So there you have it!

Pro's:

This project was cheap. 

It was fun to make.

No one has one like it.

I get compliments on it ALL THE TIME. 

It makes a gReAt shower curtain! 

Con's:

It is very time consuming. 

You must be able to sew (or know someone who does).

You might have a hard time if you don't have Photoshop? 

All in all I love my shower curtain and would do it again in a heart beat. A special THANK YOU to Stephanie from The Cozy Old Farmhouse for sharing her special ways so DIY-selfer's like myself can make pretty things! :) 

Thanks for stopping by! 

xoxo- Sarah Beth