Fun with Curtains

Hi! My name is Jenn. My husband and I just moved into a rental house in northern Georgia. When we moved in, all the windows sported the typical white Venetian blinds and two of the larger windows had vertical blinds that were falling apart. I decided to do something about it. We replaced all the Venetian blinds with bamboo blinds of different colors and styles, and I started sewing curtains for each room.

For my first attempt, I used the directions from Anna's Nest, but modified them a little. I measured the height of the window where I wanted to hang the curtains. I decided for the first set that I wanted them to 'puddle' on the floor. Then I measured the window width and multiplied by 1.5. I wanted to be able to draw the curtains closed and have them look full.

Then I laid my curtain material face side down on the floor. I measured and cut it to the appropriate length, then laid out my lining material and cut it as well. I made about the same length as the curtain fabric, but a little shorter on either side.

I then started with the bottom hem. I decided to try the blind stitch as outlined in the video on Anna's Nest web site. So first I folded the bottom up 2 inches, then pressed it.

Next, I folded the bottom up again 5 inches and pressed it. Note that I am folding and pressing both the face fabric and the liner together.

To work the blind hem stitch, I put the pins in at 1/4 inch from the fold. Then I took the whole thing to the sewing machine. It's hard to explain the blind hem stitch, but basically you fold back the bottom hem and sew on the 1/4 inch sticking out. This makes a nice neat bottom hem.

For the sides, I turned the edges under 2 inches and pressed, and then another 2 inches and pressed. Then I sewed a 1/2 inch seam down the side.

 For the top, I made a simple tube. I folded the fabric over 1 inch, pressed it, then folded it 3 inches and pressed it. I sewed along the bottom edge, and ta-da! Lined curtains!

It was so easy, I figured I would do it again, only more complicated. For the second set of curtains, I bought some nice linen fabric, a patterned fabric, and a contrasting color of ribbon.

I laid the face and lining fabric out and cut them as before. This time, I took the patterned fabric and laid it on top of the face fabric. I cut the patterned fabric a little wider than the curtains, and cut a strip of ribbon about the same.

Next, I sewed the patterened fabric onto the face fabric. Then I sewed the brown ribbon on, using small stitches near each edge.

I continued by making the blind hem at the bottom of the curtain. This got a little tricky, since I was sewing through the patterned fabric, the face fabric, and the liner at the same time.

For the sides, I simply folded them 2 inches, pressed, and then 2 more inches. I had to trim the patterned fabric a little bit so it would fold under nicely. I continued and did the top as a simple tube.

I really like these curtains- they feel elegant and they were fairly easy to make!