Sewing Curtains

Lisa is the talent behind all the sewing projects featured on this blog.  Here's her tutorial on sewing curtains...

Before beginning your curtain project, measure the width and length of your window.  With pocket curtains, (meaning your rod slips through the pocket at the top) you want to have an extra 8 inches in width and length.  That way, you'll have plenty of room for seam allowance, as well as having the curtains gather.  So make sure to add an extra eight inches per panel in width and an extra eight inches in length.

 We started by backing both the Dick and Jane fabric and the polka dot with muslin.  To do this, simply measure your two pieces to size, cut muslin to be the same as each piece, put right sides together, sew around the edge leaving a 4" opening, pull the fabric so that the right sides are showing, and stitch opening shut.  For the Dick and Jane panels, we added a decorative zig zag stitch with red thread.

 Next, we centered the Dick and Jane panels on the polka dot fabric and pinned the two pieces together, make sure to leave the extra inches at the top to create the pocket for the rod.  Then, we simply stitched a straight stitch along the entire panel.



 For the top pocket, fold over the excess material to form a 3-4 inch pocket.  Sew seam at the bottom of the pocket.  Leave the sides open for the rod.  Repeat on second panel.  Place on rod.

And here's the finished product...

These cost about $40 to make...but to have custom curtains that match the room perfectly its not a bad deal!