Tag: curtains

DIY Curtain Tutorial

I’m proud to say that I have made all the curtains in our house.  In total, there are 5 sets: blackout curtains in our master bedroom, Grayson’s bedroom, and our bonus room, and blackout Roman shades in our living room.  The newest set (which is what I’ll be covering in this tutorial) is regular, unlined curtains in our kitchen.  Since I couldn’t think of any reason why I would need blackout curtains in my kitchen, I omitted the lining, which made these the easiest curtains I’ve made so far!

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • home decor fabric (mine was 54″ wide)
  • ruler
  • scissors or rotary cutter
  • sewing machine
  • thread
  • pins
  • iron and ironing board

First, you’ll need to measure your window to determine how much fabric you’ll need.  My window is 68″ wide x 84″ tall.  The width doesn’t really matter too much unless your window is REALLY large or REALLY small, in which case you’ll want to adjust your fabric accordingly.  As far as the height goes, this will determine how many yards of fabric you’ll need.  Since I knew I wanted my curtains to hang about 6 inches above the top of the window, I added 6″ to the initial 84″ measurement, which brought my total to 90″.  So determine where you want your curtains to hang and measure from there.  Then you’ll need to add 10 inches to that measurement (2 inches for the top hem and 8 inches for the bottom hem).

So, here was my measurement:

90″ + 10″ = 100″

That was the total for one side.  Remember you’ll need to make two curtains.  So my total fabric length needed to be 200 inches.  Since I like to play it safe and have some extra fabric just in case, I bought 6 yards of fabric (or 216 inches).

Measure and cut your fabric.  You may need to fold your fabric in half lengthwise once or twice to be able to cut in a straight line if you’re using a cutting mat (which I highly recommend).

Once your fabric is cut, turn it so the wrong side is facing up.  Fold and press the side of your fabric (going lengthwise) one inch, or if your fabric has designer and color information on the side like mine did (see picture above) you can fold it until you start to see the pattern on the right side of the fabric.

Fold and press one more time so that you have a one inch hem going down the length of your fabric.

Pin in place and repeat on the other side.

Sew both hems as close to the edge as possible.  Don’t forget to back stitch at the top and bottom of your fabric to secure the thread.

Here you can see my stitch placement on the hem.

Time for the bottom hem.  Make sure your fabric is still facing with the wrong side up and turn up your fabric 4 inches (across the width) and press.

Fold up 4 inches again and press.  This will create a nice thick hem at the bottom.

Pin in place and sew as close to the top edge as possible (just like you did with the sides).

Here’s another example of my stitch placement on the bottom hem.

We’re almost done!  Time for the top and final hem!  Turn and press your fabric one inch.

Turn up one inch again and press.

Pin in place and sew.  You’re all done with the sewing!!! Now we just need to attach our curtain rings and hang it up!

These curtain rings with the clips are such a time saver, because you don’t have to worry about making holes for the rings!

Tada!!!!  Beautiful new curtains, and you made them yourself!!

These curtains add that special touch I was looking for in my kitchen.  I can’t believe it took me almost three years to decide this window needed some pzazz!

Here’s a picture of them closed.  They’re so colorful and cheery!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments section.

Patio Curtains

For my 2nd sewing machine project, I decided to make curtains to match the pillows I made a few days ago.  Don’t worry, I didn’t use the same patterned fabric.  That would have been WAY to much pattern.  Instead, I used white linen fabric for the curtains and the double roller blinds, and then to make everything coordinate together, I used the fabric from the pillows to make cute buttoned ties to go around the middle of the curtains.  Thank goodness for Coupon Commotion at Joann Fabrics.  Otherwise this little project would have turned into a very expensive project!

If you’d like to make some curtains of your own, here’s my interpretation of how to do it.  Granted, I just kinda made it up as I went along and did what I thought seemed right, so if there are any experienced sewers out there feel free to tell me how I could have done this better.  I’m still working on sewing in a straight line with the machine!

I started by cutting my fabric to the length and width I needed.  When I told the lady at Joann’s that I needed 8 yards of fabric she gave me a very surprised look, until I explained that I was making curtains.  Then a couple days later I decided that I wanted to cover every opening on the patio with curtains instead of every other, so I had to go back and get 8 more yards!  That is where my 40% off coupons came in very handy.

I then ironed the fabric so it was nice and smooth.

I barely had enough room to stretch my fabric out on the floor, but I managed.

Next, I folded the fabric 3/4 inch all the way around and pinned it.  This is probably too thick of a seam, but I didn’t want to go too thin since I’m still practicing sewing in a straight line.

I then pressed the fold so that it made a nice sharp seam.  I will neither confirm or deny that I stepped on a pin sticking straight up during this process.  You can’t make me admit to it!  This pain in my heel must be from something else.

Now I was ready to sew the seam!  That light on the sewing machine is so helpful!

When I finished sewing the seam around the entire curtain, I then folded and pinned a 2 inch section across the top of the fabric.  This is where the curtain rod will go.

Then I was ready to make the patterned button ties.

I started by cutting 2 identical 4×15 inch pieces of fabric.

Then I laid the fabric so that the right sides were facing each other, and pinned.

I sewed 3 sides together, leaving one short side open.

I trimmed the excess fabric from the edges so it wouldn’t be too bulky or fold in a weird way once I turned the fabric right side out.

After the fabric was facing the right way, I pressed it.  This was a little tricky since the seams didn’t want to expand fully.  I ended up inserting my ruler into the little sleeve that was created when I left the one end open and was able to force the fabric out so that the seam was nice and tight.

Then I folded the open end in about 1/4 inch and slip stitched it closed.

You’re supposed to barely be able to see the slip stitch if it’s done right.  I need a little more practice, but I think I did okay.

I actually figured out how to sew a button hole and button onto the fabric using the sewing machine!  Granted, I studied the directions for several minutes before I started, and then I still ended up messing up……twice.  But at least I’ll know what NOT to do when I make the next 5 curtain ties.

And here is the finished product!!!!  There are 6 openings where the curtains will be.  I know I probably should have taken this picture when it was light outside, but I finished sewing the curtain tie around 12:00am and I couldn’t wait!  Hopefully once we have the loveseat and chairs accessorized with the pillows I made out there it will all tie together and look nice.

At first I was just going to have the curtains left loose at every other opening, but it just looked too plain.  So that’s when I decided to add the ties.  I think it looks alot better.  What do you think?  Any suggestions?

Here’s an updated picture from this morning.  Looks so much prettier during the day. 🙂  Gotta love that natural light.