Friday, February 19, 2010

DIY: Glam Curtains

The curtains in our guest room have no pizazz or sass or excitement at all. They don't reach the floor and that bugs me a lot. So... here is how I transformed vanilla curtains (literally!) into super yummy scrumptiousness!
Step 1:
Sew extra length to the bottom of your curtains. I sewed mine right onto the seam.
See that nasty seam on the left? Yeah, that would be complements of my sewing machine. It needs a swift kick in the needle. I have not been able to fix it at all. I have changed the tension, the needle, the thread, the fabric, and I have rethreaded countless times. All to no avail. Bummer. Anyway, that nice smooth seam on the right is a product of my mother's sewing machine. Thanks, Mom!! (Please don't judge the sewing - it's only my second time, plus my toddler was bouncing around on my lap!!) See my first project here!

Step 2:
Cut off the excess fabric on both sides. I left just over half an inch for the overhang. Note: I didn't cut any fabric off the bottom at this point. I wanted to hang the curtains up to see where the fabric would fall.

Step 3:
I didn't want any visible seams on the sides of the curtains, so what I did instead was use the iron-on adhesive strips. I ironed down the edge first and once it cooled, I inserted the strip between the fold. Then a quick iron and this baby is ready to go!

Step 4:
This one is optional. When I hung the curtains up to check the length, I noticed that the new aubergine fabric was too transparent. Quick fix: I simply doubled the fabric by bringing the extra length up the back of the curtain and sewing the edge onto the same seam as the first. Make sense? Basically, if you look at it sideways, the fabric forms a U with the both top edges of the U getting sewn to the original curtain. Here you can see the original curtain peeking out from between the aubergine fabric.

Step 5:
Get you some pretties!! This sheer ribbon-y fringe has been sitting around forever and a day in my guest room for who-knows-what?! It was one of those "hey, what a great deal! I have nothing to use it for now, but hey, I'm sure I will use it someday!" sort of purchases. I know I must be the only person in the world who does that! {cough} I measured out enough length to add 3 inches of wraparound fringe to each side.

I was going to hand sew it on but the solid-looking part of the fringe is not solid at all. So I got out my fabulous glue gun and went to town on it! My only suggestion is to put the glue on the actual fringe, not the curtain. I switched after about 2 inches. Worked wayyy better!

Step 6:
Feign shortness and ask your wonderful hubby to please hang up the newly fabulous curtains. Never mind the fact that you got them down all by yourself or hung them up again for a quick length-check in the meantime. He wasn't home and doesn't realize this. Praise hubby for his amazing home dec skills!
(This may pay off in you not having to make dinner. It worked for me!)

Step 7:
Last but not least, step back and swoon!

1 comment:

micah said...

Very clever! I like that you got the hubs involved too... hehe.

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