How To Make Your Own Curtains
Thinking I could save myself a lot of fuss, I went shopping for ready-made curtains. Not only was the selection small, but not a thing was the right color, style, or weight. Only slightly daunted, I hit the Internet, and I looked hard. I was determined to find something. Unfortunately, the only ones I liked were expensive — and the wrong size, which meant they would need hemming, anyway.
It was time to suck it up, go to the fabric store, and make my own. If you choose to embark on this project, here’s how to do it in 10 easy steps. Take a look at your windows to decide your purpose. Do you need curtains that give you privacy,
Are they primarily decorative, Do you need them to help keep the heat in, If you have light sensitivity, do you need room-darkening curtains, In my case, I needed partial privacy but also wanted my curtains to be decorative. A general rule of thumb is that curtains should measure 1.5 to 3 times the width of your window opening. The more generous you are with the fabric, the more folds you will see when your curtains are closed, and the "richer" they will look. For length, you want the curtains to fall at least below the window trim.
You also need to allow for the top and bottom hems. You can leave as little as a 2-inch bottom hem; but here again, the more hem you leave, the better the curtains will hang, and the richer they will look. A 3- to 5-inch hem is preferable. Add another ½ inch to each hem to turn them under before stitching. Will you be making a folded-over hem at the top,
An easy compromise is to just make a 1½ inch hem at the top, which can be used as either a folded-over top hem or a rod-and-pocket. Add ½ inch to turn the hem under for stitching. This part gets tricky for the math-challenged (like me). If you choose a “decorator” fabric, they usually run at least 60 inches wide. However, if you purchase a non-decorator fabric, you will need to buy more, as the widths traditionally run about 45 inches.
As a result, you need to do two calculations, so that when you decide upon either a decorator or standard fabric at the fabric store, you make sure to get enough. The two windows I was working on are 88 inches wide, and the curtains are partially open all of the time, so I decided that 1½ times the width would be fine. It also worked out well with the 45-inch material I chose, requiring three widths of material per window.
At three panels per window, that equaled 196½ inches of fabric, or about 5½ yards. I rounded this up to 6 yards per window, or 12 yards total. If you don’t have them already, you will need curtain rods and hardware for hanging your curtains. Most “big box” stores sell these.
You can also be creative. In our case, since bamboo is abundant in Hawaii, my husband cut green bamboo poles and flamed them to dry them and to give them a nice, toasted color. He then mounted them on some homemade, wooden wall brackets. If you are trying to keep your cost down, look around and see what alternatives you have. I also purchased curtain rings.
If you choose this look, plan to buy enough rings that you can hang them at 4-inch intervals. Hopefully, you own — or can borrow — a sewing machine. Although curtains can be sewn by hand, this simple DIY job would then become time consuming and tedious. The fabric store needs to be negotiated carefully. If you aren’t careful, your fabric can run you as much as ready-made curtains. First off, ascertain whether your store has any discount programs. If so, sign up, and use those coupons!
