I had been looking for inexpensive ways to decorate, and found results on "no sew curtains".
Sounds easy enough... in fact, there's even easier ways than I have done it! (which I'll blog about later)
I purchased some beautiful black and white heart fat quarters for .75 a piece, with my heart set on them being kitchen window curtains. My boyfriend didn't like that the back of them was white while the front was black. WHATEVER, LOL.
So, I went out and found some fabric that would match my Jacobean. Again, another fat quarter for .75 cents.
I was targeting just the front door window.
Here is the
before- hunter green, too long, too short curtain with a questionable stain on it from it's previous life as a tablecloth. NOTHING in our home is hunter green anymore.
And here's the
after- cream and black
trial curtain.
Here I've made the slot that the curtain rod goes through, so that it has that decorative lip at the top like a curtain.
As you can clearly see, I really didn't do much measuring, but have learned to measure better since.
Materials and Cost:
* 1 fat quarter- .75
* roll of hem tape- $2.20 (I barely used any of the roll)
* iron [had on hand]
* scizzors [had on hand but totally need fabric cutting ones]
So I basically made that panel for 83 cents!
Instructions:
Select the fabric of your choice and measure your window. My window is a unique shape and size. Make sure the fabric selected has atleast 1 inch extra on each side.
I put the fabric front side down and folded the right side in first. I folded it about 1/2 an inch, pretty much the width of the hem tape. I ironed a crease all the way down. This provides for an easy line up and crisp edge.
I placed the hem tape rough side down and placed the iron over it for 3 seconds- moving my way down.
You want to be careful here because you may get hem glue on the iron and if it accidentally gets on the visible side of the fabric, you may as well call your project history (as I am CURRENTLY trying to fix that exact situation with a new curtain).
At this point if you have glue on your iron, wipe it off with a moist rag, then turn the curtain over (when there is NO glue present on your iron) and press for 1 or 2 seconds all the way down the curtain.
Repeat this with the other side.
Next I did the bottom, where I did a double hem. I am sure there is a more technical term for it than that, but I am a "newbee" and that's what I am calling it.
I did the hem at the bottom as I did with the sides, but then I folded it once more, and repeated the process.
I double hemmed it to give it more stability and to make it more pleasing to the eye, should someone lift up the curtain.
The result was a nice and not too thick bottom part of the curtain.
For the top part of the curtain, I folded it down in the length of THREE hems. I ironed it to give it a good line to follow, and placed my hem tape at the very part of the crease, all along the top. I adhered the tape as I did before. * The top of the fabric was the factory cut, so I didn't do any extra hemming.
I then left a gap the size of the hem tape width (or curtain rod) and adhered the hem tape along the bottom of the folded hem to the spot of which it matched up. This gave it the pocket for the rod to slide through, and sealed the bottom.
