Sewing Your Own Curtains

Sewing Your Own Curtains

If you need new curtains for a room in your house, buying them at Wal-Mart or Target is not the only option. If you're ambitious and creative, you can make your own! Here's how.

To do this, you'll need a writing pad, pencil, measuring tape, sewing maching, two packs of double-fold bias tape, dental floss and safety pins, and an ironing board and iron. First, measure your window's height, rounding to the nearest half-inch. You will need fabric to be twice the size of the window's width plus an extra five-eighths inch on each side of the window (the extra is for the hem). The height of the curtains will be the same as the window's height, plus five-eighths inch for the top and bottom seams and another two and a half inches for a folded casing.

Now buy the fabric for the curtains. If your window is more than 45 inches high, then buy 60-inch wide fabric. If it's shorter than 45 inches, then get a 45 inch size.

Now cut the fabric's length in half so that you have two panels. Next you'll make the bottom hem. Using the iron, turn up a quarter-inch narrow, double hem, pinning it in place. Now machine stitch it near the edge; backstitch the beginning & end of the seam. Now do the same for the panel's sides.

To make a casing at the top of each panel, turn up a quarter-inch hem with your steam iron. Now fold and iron two more inches. Pin this in place, stitching it near the pressed edge.

You can also add ruffles to the curtains. Using each individual panel's width, multiple this by six. You'll need a strip of fabric this long to make the ruffles look right. Now make a narrow double hem on the fabric sides and along the bottom of the ruffle strip. Stitch the top edge in a zig-zag pattern, keeping a quarter0inch from the edge. Take a safety pin and run a length of your dental floss through the zig-zag. Pin the end of it to the strip's end. Finally, gather your ruffle by tugging the floss from the other end, evening it out as you go.

Labels: How to make curtains, How-to-make-curtains, Sewing Your Own Curtains, Sewing-Your-Own-Curtains

posted by admin @ 12:48 PM