How often have you done any home dec sewing?! I can count on both hands how many sewing projects I've completed over the years for the apartments I've lived in or my itty bitty mid-century rowhouse I've been in for about seven years now. Sewing up a pair of panel curtains is really quite simple and doesn't need a pattern. THE most difficult part of making these curtain panels: taking photos of them!! I have just this one window in the room & it's like photographing directly into the sun since I have no other windows nearby or good sources of light.
I wanted to get rid of my plain, thin, boring beige Ikea curtains for a while. (Official Before & After photos are at the end of the post!) Fabric Mart has a sizable selection of Home Decor fabrics, mine of course is sold out. Sad face. I used a geometric print with a juicy assortment of citrus colors like fuchsia, lime and orange! It feels like an upholstery weight material and has a wicked cool print on the wrong side. I purposely did not line them because I love the colors. Also, I have cotton sheers up that serve as a liner for privacy and light control... and now to prevent blinding passers-by.
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| The "wrong" side faces out towards the window... ignore the random threads I forgot to pick off |
My window is about 72" wide. The fabric is 56" wide, so I got 6 yards. I don't want super fluffy curtains in my modest sized room. I split it in half, 3 yard lengths per panel and some to spare. After sewing them up, my panels are each about 54" wide and 90" long.
I hung my curtains up, located and marked where I wanted the hem to end, measured down 4" for the hem (like the top of the curtains) plus an extra 1" for folding under. I simply cut them right there on the curtain rod since the print is a perfect, straight stripe across.
Now I have these really lovely, casual & super cool looking panels. They match my cheerful yellow walls perfectly. I even was careful to line the print up at the same point on each panel for sewing. Good job, Kathy!
No real math was done to make these. After cutting my fabric into 3 yard lengths, I trimmed those selvage edges to remove the extra fluff. I then turned the edges in twice about a half inch each time and sewed up a seam. Side seams done... CHECK! A third of the way done already. On to the top edge that attaches to the rings & rod.
To figure out the measurement for the rod pocket along the top of each panel, I measured the tabs on my old curtains. They were 4", so I made mine measure 4" as well. No rocket science here. I clip my curtains onto rings so they are really easy to slide open and closed everyday. Two-thirds done. Onward to hemming!
I hung my curtains up, located and marked where I wanted the hem to end, measured down 4" for the hem (like the top of the curtains) plus an extra 1" for folding under. I simply cut them right there on the curtain rod since the print is a perfect, straight stripe across.
Happily hemmed curtains! My house is pretty casual so I did not worry about blind hemming anything. I used my sewing machine with a stitch length of 3.0. Oh, that's Bridgette. She was my hungry kitty helper waiting for her dinner.
If anyone is longing for some good ole BEFORE & AFTER photos, here are some. Secretly I never hemmed those stark beige curtains from Ikea... and I folded over the tabs on top and hid them... so lazy!
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| Those old biege ones had the manufacturer's serged hem still... I never hemmed them... yikes!! |
Now I have these really lovely, casual & super cool looking panels. They match my cheerful yellow walls perfectly. I even was careful to line the print up at the same point on each panel for sewing. Good job, Kathy!
Happy Home Dec Sewing!!
Those colors fit in so well with the other colors in your room. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous curtains! I know how to make curtains and cushions, and have made many, hating it all the way. Don't know why - maybe I should get over that! Love that luscious print!
ReplyDeleteKathy your curtain are beautiful. From what I can see in the pictures you did a great job. I think from what you had to say you are like me and many others when we have what seems like a big job ahead of us, we panic and do nothing because it seams like such a daunting task. I made curtains for my living room which consists of 1 small window and l large bowed window. I put the job off for 4 years and put up with some ugly shear type curtains I purchased when we first moved in as a "temporary"covering. I guess I kept procrastinating because the task seemed so large and I was afraid I was going to screw it up to be truthful. And I was nervous about making that first cut into the curtain fabric. But after I finally got going and saw the finished product and the difference it made in my home, I was kicking myself for dragging my feet. I get the feeling you were the same way.
ReplyDeleteYou curtains look great and make a amazing difference in your room. If you have any scraps left, you can make some pillows for you sofa or chairs and spread the color around.
Again super job.
Sewing Mama