Easy Sew Curtains: If I Can Sew These, You Can Too!

These easy sew curtains couldn’t be easier!  If I can make them, you can too!

I don’t sew, you guys.  Seriously, I don’t.  I do have a sewing machine that I got when my mom was here visiting about 10 years ago though.  We wanted to make curtains, recover giant floor pillows, and a few other projects because, as you may have guessed, my mom is an amazing seamstress!  She was so talented she used to make mine and my sister’s church dresses all of the time.  So I figured getting a sewing machine was a great investment because then my mom could use it anytime she visited and hey!  Maybe I’ll even use it every once in awhile too!  I have used it…. but just to sew paper garlands.  LOL.

But I needed some curtains for my new home office and I just wasn’t finding anything out there that I loved that I could simply buy.  I had a couple of problems… a) my general pickiness and b) I needed LONG curtains.  I have 9 ft. ceilings but knew my curtain rod wouldn’t quite go all the way to the top so I needed about 105″ curtain panels.  Yeah, those don’t exist.  So making my own was my only option.  Are you ready for how I created these easy sew curtains?  Oh, easy sew AND completely custom to my space?  That is the true beauty of DIYing anything, in my opinion.  But I digress… on with the tutorial!

Let me remind you once again that I don’t sew.  I can (usually) sew a straight line, but that is it.  So I needed to figure out a way to make some panels that would require only straight sewing and would turn out just as I envisioned.   I found this awesome Nate Berkus fabric at Joanns that was exactly the mix of modern and bohemian I was going for.  It’s called Jatte and I love it.   So I purchased 6 yards which would be enough for both of my panels.

Easy Sew Curtains- Tutorial

1. Cut your fabric to the length you want your finished panel to be PLUS 8 INCHES (4 extra on the top and 4 extra on the bottom— we will get to the why later).  This isn’t an exact science here but try to get it close to that.   Then don’t even bother cutting off the selvage edge, you guys.  Seriously.  Who is going to see it?  No one.  Plus then you always know the brand and name of your fabric… bonus!  But yeah, that seemed like an extra step I didn’t want to take (if YOU want to, then by all means).  
2. Fold over the long edge about 1/2 inch and pin and sew a straight line about 1/4 inch from the folded edge.  Do this along the bottom and top edges as well.  
3.  Fold over the top about 4 inches.  This is creating your pocket for your curtain rod to go through.  Even if you’re planning on using clip on curtain rings or something like that, still create this pocket to give you the option of changing how you hang them later.  I used a sewing gauge (affiliate) to make sure my pocket was even all the way across.  I then pinned and sewed it into place.
4.  This was the part that I didn’t really want to do but it was VERY IMPORTANT so don’t skip this step.  After I sewed the pocket for my curtain rod, I actually went and hung my curtains up to see exactly how they hung and to see exactly how long each one needed to be.  It turned out that each panel needed to be a slightly different length (probably because I hung my curtain rod crooked or something!  ha!) so I’m so glad I did!  I hung them up and then…
5. Turn under the edge of your curtain panel and pin to the exact length you want it to be.  I wanted mine to barely be touching the floor so I pinned it as such.  Then take your curtains down, sew your bottom edge into place, iron down if needed and rehang.  You’re done!

I cannot believe how much these curtains transformed my office.  Before it was coming along but it was still quite stark and plain.  These cozied up the place and added the perfect style I was looking for!

I love how the blue coordinates with my living room (which is right next to it and pretty much in the same open space) as well as everything else in my office!   And I could not believe how easy these were to sew!  I think they took just over an hour once I got started on them.  These easy sew curtains were a great project to dust off my sewing machine and create something truly custom for my new home office.

Now I’m starting to think that I might just turn into a little seamstress after all.  Well, as long as it’s just a bunch of straight lines. 🙂

OTHER PROJECTS FROM MY HOME OFFICE

DIY Stylish Painted Bulletin Board

IKEA Hack Work Table