Wednesday, April 10, 2013

The Cutest Curtains Ever!!! {tutorial}

 I spent a week in Virginia helping my friend decorate her house.  She has this big window in her front room and it needed some curtains.  Here is how you can make them too!

We bought this 2-pack of canvas drop cloths at the Home Depot.  They were $10 for the pair.  We liked these because they were a little more gray than tan.


Some of the other canvas drop cloths were only 1 in a package.  The ones we bought were perfect because we needed 2 curtain panels.
They ended up being the perfect width for our window.  You may need to adjust the measurements to fit your window.  Measure how long you want them and then add 3" for the hem.  Make sure to consider how you want to hang them.  Ours were hung with curtain clips on a rod.  Cut off the extra fabric and hem.  Our hem was rolled once then again about 2 1/2 inches.

We bought a Queen size flat sheet at the thrift shop it was on sale for $3.

Snip the sheet at 4" increments and tear apart.  (Do this the long way so you have enough length to ruffle.)  We used 6 strips per panel.  Adjust depending on the size of your curtains.  The combination of the warn, softness of the sheet and the tearing gave the ruffles a nice vintage edge.


After the strips are torn, cut the hemmed edges off the strips so they are raw on all 4 sides.  Sew a gathering stitch down the center of the 4" strips.  Gather.

Draw a line 1/3 the way up from the bottom of the curtain.  Then draw a line every 6" to the bottom of the curtain.  You should have 6 lines for 6 ruffles.



Adjust the ruffle to fit the width of your panel.  Pin the gathered seam along the pencil line.  Continue pinning all 6 ruffles.  Sew a straight stitch over your gathering stitch.  It's a little awkward because the drop cloth is a little thick. 



 Keep gathering and gathering and pinning and pinning - you can do it!!


 Once you have sewn the ruffles on, they are ready to hang!!  You could easily make a pocket at the top if you don't want to use curtain clips.  We bought our clips and rod at Target.

We finished our project at 1:00 am.  We hung them up and sat on the couch and admired them for quite some time.  They gave the room such a darling, finished look.


 In my house in California, I have shutters on all my windows, so I don't think I will be able to have my own set of these curtains in my house.  That makes me sad.  I took lots of pictures so I could remember how cute they turned out!!







Amanda

15 comments:

  1. Brilliant!!! I am so doing this!!!!

    Take Care,
    Mandy Jean
    www.mandyjeanchic.com

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  2. I love my curtains!! I sit in the living room just to admire them. You are the best, Amanda!!!

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  3. These curtains are dang cute!! And I LOVE your blog name! :) We'll be featuring your curtains over at Someday Crafts tomorrow, so come on over if you have a minute!

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  4. So awesome!!! Glad to be a teeny tiny part of it, too, if the sewing machine counts. But I don't think so. Really, it's all you, Amanda. You and your awesome creative mind! I'm coming over, Hillary, to see the finished product in person! Amanda, you are amazing. Amazing!

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  5. These are adorable! And so inexpensive! I love them :)

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  6. Super cute! I wish I had your sewing talent. Thanks for sharing at Monday Funday! Take care, Laura

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  7. These are really cute! Thanks for sharing...

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  8. I love these curtains! SO cute! I featured you today on my Kick-Off Friday post! Have a great weekend!

    http://craftivitydesigns.blogspot.com/2013/04/kick-off-friday_19.html

    Erica

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  9. Beautiful! Thanks for linking up at Monday Funday!

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  10. I LOVE your curtains! They're just beautiful. Congrats on the Fine Craft Guild feature. That's exciting. Have a great day! ~ Jamie

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  11. Adorable!!!!! I have been wanting ruffled curtains for my shower for a while now!!! Yes, tried the stores, but they don't have it here in canada, only online!!! Time to make my own!!!! Thank you!
    I couldn't sign in with my new blog, so this is my old blog email.
    My new email is claudine@restory.ca

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  12. Love these, brilliant. Great blog, keep up the good work.

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