DIY Drop Cloth and Lace No Sew Curtains

Hey friends! It’s Courtney from The Hamby Home! It’s been a little while but I’m back and have another DIY project to share with you!

I made some drop cloth curtains (that I shared here) a couple weeks ago and they were very easy to make and I love the way they look in our living room. I also really love the price tag, it’s tough to beat $40 for two 113” panels. I also bought some adorable throw pillows that are linen and crocheted that look fabulous next to the curtains. I love the pillows so much that they inspired me to make a little “fancier” version of the drop cloth curtains for our bedroom and I’ll be showing you how to make some for yourself!

If you frequently DIY then you know that not all DIY projects go as expected. Seriously… please tell me this happens to people other than me? Although I know all you really want to know is how to make these, I’ll be sharing my “mistakes” and challenges as well in case you run into something similar, however hopefully you will learn from my mistakes!

Supplies Needed:

• Drop Cloths – consider the size of the curtain you will need when purchasing
• Lace Fabric of choice – Mine is from Hancock Fabric (Make sure you have the width of the curtain panel)
• Fabric Tape (I used a pack and a half) – Yes, I am now too lazy to even iron on the tape, don’t judge me! 😉

Here is how I made them:

Step 1: Wash and Dry the Drop Cloths

Step 2: Start ironing the top of the drop cloth. Once you have about 1 foot ironed, line the edge of the back side with the fabric tape and secure it to the drop cloth 4 inches down to create the pocket for the curtain rod. Once it’s secure, quickly iron over the tape to make the “seam” more permanent.

Step 3: Cut lace or top fabric to desired size. Mine had a horizontal pattern that made it easy to decide where to cut. Leave an inch or two on each side so that it’s wider than the drop cloth panel.

Step 4: Line the front and top of the drop cloth with the fabric tape then Line up fabric with the top and press to secure. Once it’s secure, quickly iron over it to help secure.

Step 5: Then line the back sides with the fabric tape and secure the leftover edges to the back to give it a finished look.

Step 6: Finish ironing the rest of the drop cloth and “hem” to desired length if necessary.

Here are the challenges I ran into:

1. I knew I needed a little over 8 ft in length so I purchased the 9 ft drop cloths. What I didn’t realize was that they were 6 ft wide instead of my last set that were 4ft wide. 6ft is really too large to have two panels on each window so I decided to just do one panel per window. Your takeaway: Use 6 ft if you want just one panel and 4 ft if you want two!
2. I took them out of the package and threw them straight into the washer without inspection. The last drop cloth I got was 15 ft long with no seam so I didn’t know to look for one. I had already attached the top of the fabric when I realized that these drop cloths have HUGE seams right in the middle. MAJOR BUMMED OUT on this one. I didn’t want to scrap the panel because the money I had into it with the drop cloth and the lace (which wasn’t cheap) so I just finished the panel. Your takeaway: Inspect the Drop Cloth before (in the store or at home) and make sure there is no seam down the middle prior to starting.

The Original Plan: My original idea was to have two panels per window and have a 2-ish foot layer of lace at the top that just laid on top of the drop cloth curtain…sounds easy enough, right?

The Revised Plan: Well because of the challenges listed above, the plan got tweaked. I was now doing one panel per window and I decided to use some of the scrap lace and use them as a curtain pull that would cover that large and obnoxious seam that I won’t ever forgive myself for. J Luckily I had enough extra length on the drop cloth that this didn’t make them too short. Also – this kept me from hemming the length so at least something good came out of it.

I used little screw in hooks and just attached the lace “pull back” to that and Voila!

Also, can we talk about how hard it is to photograph curtains! It’s always either too dark or it’s too bright.. someone please send help!

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Be sure to check out Courtney’s latest projects on her blog!

DIY Dropcloth Curtains | DIY Magnolia Wreath | Free Spring Printable