Our windows need curtains. So we decided that I should make some. Should be a piece of cake, how difficult can it be to make curtains? (cue Jeremy Clarkson asking "how hard can it be")
First we measured the windows. Then we painted some scraps of drywall to match fabric to the paint in each room. We went to Joann Fabric and bought some fabric. I looked at some tutorials for sewing curtains online. These tutorials are not as easy to find as I expected, apparently no-sew curtains is currently what all the cool kids are doing. Meh, I've never been one of the cool kids.
The fabric was washed. I created a spreadsheet to understand curtains (no joke). I realized that curtain rod height needs to be accounted for, but we don't have curtain rods. We determined that painted PVC curtain rods are pretty cool (thanks Pinterest), and we'll make our own. Measurements were retaken, numbers plotted in, calculations were made, and then there was the realization that we don't have enough fabric to make the curtains.
The spreadsheet was reviewed, insufficient fabric was verified (only for two of the four windows though, not as bad as initially thought), and another trip to JoAnn's was underway. Followed by more fabric washing. Followed by a huge lapse in time where I procrastinated making curtains because I'm overwhelmed and don't want curtains to beat me, again.
Time passes... Seasons change... Alright, it was maybe three weeks, but that may have aligned with the start of spring.
Motivation struck, so I began pressing the fabric. And the ironing board kept collapsing. At one point, I had stopped ironing to chat with a friend who had stopped by, and the board collapsed, all by itself. To be fair, this has happened the entire time I've had this ironing board, but again, how difficult should it be to make some basic curtain panels? The board was closed, flipped over, and studied intensely. The interwebs were consulted. Turns out one side of the metal piece that the rod slides through in the center of the board was pushed up into the top piece, which was twisting the whole mechanism. Lee popped it back where it should be, and now it works perfectly. Yay!
Once all the creases were removed from the fabric, cutting ensued. This required a bit too much thinking on my part, because the curtain panels are larger than my cutting mat. Simply folding the fabric in half lengthwise and measuring half of the total required distance from the fold worked splendidly for the first panel. For the length, I folded the fabric widthwise (so it would fit on the cutting mat), and measured from the edge I had squared off for the first panel. I measured from that cut for the second panel. One of the panels ended up longer than the other, but the shorter one was the right length so it didn't matter. Things are finally looking up.
I created a side hem by ironing a 1" hem with wrong sides together. I turned the raw edge under the fold, and pressed again, making it a 1/2" hem. I used some Clover Wonder Clips to hold the hem in place, and repeated on the other side, then on the other panel. I sewed the hem closed with about an 1/8" seam allowance from the inside edge of the hem (not the edge of the curtain). This was repeated on the other side, then the other panel.
Next, I created the rod pocket. I made sure my fabric was not directional (meaning there is no clear top or bottom of the print). It wasn't, but if it was, like one of the other prints I have for curtains, I would verify that I was working with the top side of the print. I folded over 1" from the top and pressed. This hem was then folded over the remaining pocket height determined in my spreadsheet, which happened to be 5". This fold was pressed, clipped in place, and sewed down with 1/8" seam allowance. I then measured up from the seam the distance of my curtain rod pocket height, which was 3", and drew a line with a Pilot FriXion Erasable Gel Pen. This left me with about 2" between the line and the top of the curtain panel, which will create a ruffle. I sewed down this line.
At this point, all that remains is to hem the curtain, but we had to actually make the curtain rod and curtain rod holders first.
Once we had the curtain rod up, the curtains were hung. We decided where they should fall, just under the window and above the hanging towel bar. I clipped the fabric where I wanted the curtains to fall, measured the distance from the top, and created a pressed fold at that distance for both panels. I then measured 4" below the fold and drew a line. Excess fabric below this line was then cut off. This left me with my 3" hem allowance and 1" to fold under. The bottom 1" was folded over and pressed, then the hem was folded back over at the ironed line, and the seam was sewn down.
All in all, the curtains came out okay. I ended up not making the top ruffle, since I don't really like ruffles and there wasn't really enough fabric up there to make a ruffle and still be able to take the curtains off the rod. I don't think the standard calculation I used for the rod height (aka diameter) worked as well since we used a round pipe instead of a standard curtain rod bar. The circumference of the pipe may be a better measurement to use. The curtains cover the window, but aren't really drapey (is that a word?), so I think the fabric width for each panel will need to be increased for the next one. The curtains don't look like they fall straight even though they measure out properly. Maybe I'll base the hem more on appearance than actual length next time.
I've got some additional research to do, then the laundry room curtains are on the cutting mat. (See what I did there? Cutting mat instead of cutting block... haha? Okay, I'll stop now.)
No comments:
Post a Comment