Learning how to make curtains is so simple. Don’t buy your next set of curtains, make them with this Easy DIY Curtains tutorial! If you can sew a straight line, you can make these curtains! Let’s get sewing!
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I don’t know if you’ve needed to buy curtains lately, but they are EXPENSIVE! I tend to like curtains that are more on the fun side, and not just solid color, so that makes curtains even more expensive to buy for me. Making your own curtains is so ridiculously easy. Learning how to make curtains requires you to know how to sew, but literally only straight lines. Let’s get to it!
If you love this fabric as much as I do ( I re-did my barstools with the leftovers even!!!), you can buy it to make ALL THE THINGS on Amazon HERE. It’s a very thick, high-quality fabric! It’s half the price on Amazon compared to Hobby Lobby.
HOW TO MAKE CURTAINS
The first thing you need to do, is measure your window. Make sure you measure from where the curtain rod will be, and not just the actual window. Decide how long you want your curtains. For my living room, I wanted floor length, but for the dining room, I just wanted window length. Measure the entire width of the curtain rod. Add four inches to the width of the curtain rod, and that will be the width of the fabric you need to buy. Measure the length you want the curtains to be. Then add six inches to the length you measured, and that will be the length of the fabric you need to buy.
Disclaimer: I am not a professional seamstress. I am not even a very good seamstress. BUT that being said, this is how I sewed my curtains and I really like the way they turned out. If you have a serger (which if you’re looking at a beginner’s tutorial on how to make curtains I doubt it), then you can simply finish the edges of your material using the serger. You can also just use the zig-zag stitch, but I feel like that takes longer, and the finished product doesn’t look as nice as my method. I just sew about a 1/2″ hem around the outside of each of my curtain panels using a simple straight stitch.
If you don’t have a sewing machine yet, but are looking to buy one, the one I use is a Brother Sewing Machine and I love it. It’s not a high end machine, but it’s not bottom of the chain either. I’ve found if you get the cheapest version, it will make sewing a lot more difficult. The machine I have now makes everything easier and I love it. You can get it HERE.
When you have finished going around each panel once, this is what one hem looks like. Now, do it again. Yes, really. Fold the single hemmed edges over, and hem it again. This will keep the edges from fraying, and will give your curtains a completed look. They won’t look homemade when you’re done. Depending on how thick the material is, you may need to go slow, or use a heavy duty needle. If your machine seems strained, just take it easy. Slow and steady wins the race. Make sure to keep your lines straight.
When you’ve finished doing this for all the curtain panels you’re making, you just have a couple of steps left to finish learning how to make curtains. Fold the top of your curtain panels down two inches from the top. This should be large enough to accommodate the largest of curtain rods. Use pins to secure this all the way across, so you keep the curtain rod sleeve straight. Just remove the pins as you sew, to keep everything even.
Trim your threads and you’re almost finished learning how to make curtains! I didn’t want my curtains to hang like stiff boards, so I figured out a method to make them hang nicely. Lay the curtain panels down flat, and spray them with water using a spray bottle. Make them damp. Run a string or ribbon inside the curtain rod sleeve, and bunch it tightly, and then tie the string. Allow it to sit, and create natural folds in the fabric, until it’s completely dry. Once you remove the string or ribbon, your curtains will hang nicely on the curtain rod, and will create pretty folds as they should.
Do you like easy DIY projects like learning how to make curtains? Check these out:
Stuffed Animal Corner Cage
How to Shabby Paint With Water
