I had so many people send me e-mails and comments asking for a tutorial and fabric source for my dining room curtains. Come on, ladies! You're my girls. Do you really think I would leave you all hanging like that? All you have to do is pay $50 for the e-tutorial and I'll tell you everything!
Just kidding. Here's the dish...for free. 'Cause you're my girls. Don't be scared if you're new to sewing. If you can cut, measure, and sew a (semi) straight line, you can make these. They are very forgiving.
First of all, these curtains are "dummy panels", which means they are non-functioning drapes. My fabric is 58" wide and that was ample for my windows. If you need the curtains for privacy, you'll want to measure to make sure they will close and provide you full coverage.
Cut your fabric to the desired length. I wanted to hang my curtain rod at 88" from the floor, so I cut the fabric to 94" long in order to leave enough fabric for a hem, seam allowances, and a 2" ruffle at the top. Lay your fabric out on the floor with the pattern facing up. Put your lining fabric on top of the curtain fabric with the right side facing down. I used a twin flat sheet that I purchased at Wal-Mart for $3.00. Smooth the fabrics out and line up the edges. I then cut the sheet/lining to match the curtain fabric. Pin the top and two side edges together, leaving the bottom open. Imagine you're sewing a huge pillow case. Ok?
Sew along the two sides and top, again, leaving the bottom open. It's ok if your sewing is not perfectly straight. Just do your best.
Now, turn your curtains right-side-out and press the seams. (Sorry for the blurry picture. Do you know how hard it is to take a picture with your left hand while you're ironing with your right? Is that an Olympic sport yet?)
As a side note, have I ever shared my 1940's ironing board cabinet?
It has the original glass knob and everything.
Once you have your edges pressed, lay your curtain panel on the floor (or work surface) with the right side down.
I used a piece of the sheet I trimmed off my lining to use as the sleeve for the curtain rod. I pinned it two inches from the top of the panel, turning the sides under to hide the raw edge.
I needed about a 2" wide sleeve to fit my curtain rod, so I measured 2" down from my pin line to sew a second line, which will complete the sleeve.
So, I'm going to sew along the pencil line and the stitch line (that was originally the edge of the sheet, so it was already sewn.)
Nobody is going to see this, so it's ok to leave the edges raw. Simply slide the rod into the sleeve and...ta-da! A curtain panel in about 20 minutes. The first one may take you a little longer, but you'll get quicker as you move along. So, what happened to the bottom edge of the curtains? Well, nothing yet. I like to let my curtains hang for a few days before I hem them. So, we'll be hemming our curtains together when I can get to it.
I purchased my fabric on sale from JoAnn Fabrics and online at Fabric.com using a coupon code. Here's where the money-saving part came in. I loved this print, but it was $36/yard or something crazy like that in the decorator fabric section (linen and cotton blend.) There was no way I could afford that, even with a discount or coupon. Then, I spotted this same print in Waverly's Sun-n-shade line (canvas fabric.) It was on sale for $10/yard AND I had a $55 gift card for my birthday. The fabric is called Tucker Resist Chambray by Waverly and it's based on a block printed fabric found in Williamsburg. It's a little less than $10/yard at fabric.com right now and is even less with a coupon code!
I also had a couple of questions about my floor and table stain color. Both are Dark Walnut by Minwax. You can read more about the antlers here and the chalkboard quote here. A tutorial for the cord cover will come shortly!
I linked this up to SNS over at Donna's blog.