Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Dining Room Curtains

Over the weekend, I made the curtains for the dining room. I had previously ordered the fabric and drapery lining from LS Fabrics in Atlanta. Wow, this was a big project, but it was definitely a rewarding one!



I decided to make back-tab panels because I didn't want the ruched look of rod pocket drapes but I didn't think I had enough skill to make pinch pleats. I made these with a no-sew method and used only Stitch Wichery to hem and bond the fabric together. I may go over some of the seams with the sewing machine in the future, but for now, these drapes look great and are serving their purpose. This is a great way to easily create curtains for your home and the no sew technique works great if they will be dummy panels that you don't intend to pull across the window.

First, I started out by measuring and cutting both of my panels of fabric. I wanted curtains that were 106" long  so I cut pieces of fabric that were 112", allowing 3" hems for the top and bottom.



Then, I used the Stitch Witchery to hem the sides of the fabric panels. I folded over 3/4" down both sides.


 At the bottom and top of the panels, I hemmed about 3" to make the panels the correct length. Be sure to check that your panel is square and your fabric is how you want it at this stage.


At this point, I had hemmed the top, bottom, and sides of the fabric panel. Here's what they looked like laying out on the floor.

I wanted to add a fabric lining to these curtains so they would look more polished and not look flimsy on the wall.  I cut the lining to fit just inside the panel, "sewed" it to the top of the panel and then folded the seams of the fabric over onto the lining, ironing the Stich Wichery to hold it in place.


Then, I hemmed the bottom of the lining so that it laid over top of the hemmed fabric.  


At that point, I was almost done. I then added tabs on the top of the fabric, at the right height, so that I could slide my curtain rod through. I don't have a picture of that, but basically it looks like strips of fabric on the back that the rod slides through.

And, here's the finished product:




Some of these pictures were taken at night, so the lighting and color of the room is a bit off. Here's a daytime picture:



Kevin and I are really happy with the result. It was a lot of work making these curtains, but we think they really look nice in the room. It's also amazing how much bigger the room feels with these floor to ceiling curtains.  They add drama and a point of interest in the room.

Shared at:

The DIY Show Off and Today's Creative Bloghttp://typeadecorating.blogspot.com/

25 comments:

  1. They look great. I'd never heard of Stitch Witchery before, but I have added to my craft-store shopping list. :)

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  2. They're gorgeous! WOW! Beautiful statement in your gorgeous dining room. I love them!

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  3. Beautiful Curtains! Love the fabric too.

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  4. Great fabric! I make all of my panels this way! It's such a breeze! I can't believe I didn't figure this little trick out any sooner. I'm your newest follower too. Would love it if you stop by and follow me back. :)
    www.alivedinhome.blogspot.com
    Megan

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  5. Beautiful pattern choice! Love!! Your newest follower!!

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  6. i love the pattern. Following your blog.

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  7. Hi, What's the name of this fabric?

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  8. Hi Leila, it's Loop De Loop by Duralee Fabrics in Smoke.

    http://lsfabrics.com/fabric/loop-d-loop-20996

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  9. Thank you very much! I love what you did. My bedroom is greenish and I think this fabric would be great :)

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  10. Just one more thing, how much fabric did you buy ? I'm trying to figure out how much I will need for my

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  11. I did single-width panels, so I only needed a little more than 2X the desired height of one panel. I ordered 6.5 yards. Just make sure you take into account about 6-8 inches extra per panel for hemming, etc.

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  12. How did you create the tabs on the back. I am looking to create some curtains for our new place!!

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  13. How far apart did you place the tabs on the back for the rod pocket?

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  14. What is the paint color you used?? Cute!

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  15. Love your fabric!! Had a question about it. In your picture the fabric looks very light like a light gray but when I've searched for this fabric online its been posted darker in color. Is it naturally light or darker on the gray side. Just wondering if this will match my living room.

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  16. I love this pattern and I want to make curtains for our living room that has a 20' ceiling. Can you tell me how WIDE your panels ended up being?

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    1. The panels are one width of the fabric - the side hems, which ends up being around 51 inches wide. With the folds/pleats it doesn't actually take up that much room, but balances everything nicely. Here's a helpful guide on how wide your fabric panels should be: http://www.ehow.com/how_5589048_determine-curtain-panel-width.html

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  17. What color is your Dining room? I love that color, especially with those curtains! Great Job!

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    Replies
    1. The color in the dining room is Mindful Gray by Sherwin Williams

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  18. Gorgeous curtains!! How many yards of fabric did you purchase? I am using the same fabric in my dining room, but I don't know how much to order. They will be the same length.

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