As some of you may already know we are expecting our first baby in September! (a girl!). We are super excited. We decided that we wanted to try to make many of the things that will go in her room. We are also buying/trading for other handmade items. A few items like her crib and rocking horse were mine when I was a kid. So it’s turning out to be a pretty special room..actually my favorite in the house!

 

I am no sewing expert but I have made a few things in my time. I made a lot of my clothes when I was in high school  (mostly dresses that were pretty easy to make). I’ve only used a pattern maybe once or twice, so I guess you could say I like to make it up as I go along. My latest sewing project has been curtains for our nursery. I think curtains have an amazing ability to transform a room..much like artwork does. That being said, wanted to share with you a really easy way to make simple curtains!

 

Materials:

1. Fabric you like (I wanted long curtains so I bought a total of 6 yards for 2 windows) Make sure that the fabric you pick out has some weight to it so that it will hang nicely – I usually shop in the upholstery section of our fabric outlet.

2. Lighter weight cotton lining (buy same amount – in my case 6 yards)

3. Ribbon to hang curtains by ( I bought 8 feet in sliver )

4. Thread (I bought two medium spools of sliver)

5. Yard stick

6. Scissors

7. Pins

8. Sewing machine

 

Instructions:

Depending on the width of your window you may be able to get away with folding the fabric in half and cutting it down the middle. The bolt of fabric was a perfect width to get two curtain halves out of one piece for my windows. So I folded it in half and pinned it at the edge, and ironed it at the fold in the middle to make sure my cut went perfectly down the center.

Now that I have two halves, I finish each side of the curtain by folding once, ironing and the folding in once more so that the cut edge is safely tucked away on the inside. I Iron the edge once more then pin it before taking it to the sewing machine. I then run a single line down each folded and pinned side (taking pins out as I sew). Now we have the sides done for our decorative fabric pieces!

Next cut your lining material to the same size as your decorative fabric. My lining has side edges that are deckled (almost lace like) which I thought was pretty. So I kept one edge as is and finished the other just like I did above. Now you should have two lining pieces done with one finished side and one as is “deckled” side.

 

Next, take your decorative fabric and lay it face down and place your liner fabric on top. Line it up so that the top edges of both pieces are in alignment. Position the liner fabric so that the deckled edge come slightly past your decorative fabric on one of the sides (so that when the curtains are hung the deckled edge will show on the inside side of each half. See alignment pics below~

Next we finish the top and place the ribbon loops (aka curtain hangers). First Fold the top edges over once (like we did the sides), iron, and the fold over once more. At this point I place pins about every 10 inches or so to keep the folds even and in place.

Now that we have the top edge folded, ironed and pinned in place it’s time to cut the ribbon. The length I chose was 7.5 inches for each ribbon (this can be more or less depending on the diameter of your curtain rod). I cut six 7.5inch ribbons for each curtan half. You may want more or less depending on the width of your window. Just make sure to use an even number of ribbons for each curtain because that ends up looking/laying best when the curtain is open.

Next we place the ribbons.

Now you have a unfinished but hangable curtain! I always do a test hang at this point to make sure both sides line up and that all looks even.

 

Also wanted to share with you the mid-century modern styled cubby Jason made. Super excited with how it turned out. We painted it off white on the outside and peachy-pink on the inside.

Happy curtain making everyone!