A tip we use here in Africa, when you cut a slit on any woven fabric when you have measured your length and pull hard it will rip very straight all the way down. Which is why here you can get whole house curtains in half a day for all your rooms and if its just one window in about an hour at any upholstery shop. Unless you're a begginer that is cutting and ironing for non clothing items is not really essential and wastes so much time.
Fantastic tutorial!!! I want to make my own and have watched maybe 6 different videos but still didn't feel comfortable making them yet. This morning I was just browsing on RU-vid and came across yours and decided to watch one more video on how to do it. Now I feel ready to attack my drapes; you made it look so much easier and explained it so well that I can understand what to do. I feel so much more comfortable and at ease now. Thank you so much, your video was meant to be.
First, let me thank you for the video. About two years ago I made some pinch pleated drapes for our family room. I’ve never been happy with the finished product. My husband (The Engineer) doesn’t seem to remember what he did to screw up the traverse rods, so they are uneven and don’t pull properly. I don’t want to trash them as I love the fabric and spent hundreds of $$’s on it. A lightbulb came on as I was watching your tutorial and you gave me a solution that should work perfectly. I only have to spend about a week unsewing the hems and cutting off the header tape. I spent sooo much time on these things I figure I will have at least 100 hours invested. However, this solves the problem of making sheers to go underneath, and The Engineer’s complaint that people might see in. I’m looking for lining fabric, and will order the rings from Amazon (using your link). Already have a double rod for this 124” window. Wish I had a buddy to help me with this project, though. After this, I have some beautiful linen I bought before I retired for the living room curtains. You guys made it look so easy. I’m inspired, thanks again!
I do my side hems similar but I blind stitch them. I also do a 4 inch double hem and blind stitch it too. The only hem I sew on the machine is the bottom lining. I also use some buckram in the top. Good job!
Wow your machine sounds loud. Might be a mic thing, but my grandmas machine is so old that it sounds like a warzone when she uses it. She has a new machine, but since it was a digital one she had a learning curve. I think she uses the new one now, but I haven't seen her in a few years.
Wow!! I FINALLY get it! Best how to measure example EVER!! They're GORGEOUS! I've used these ring n clip combos before, and my pleates hung wonky. Drove me crazy! In the end, I had to add a sturdy jump ring between the ring and clip. Then they hung straight. Did these have a jumps between?
A question. I'm getting ready to do something very similar to my front window, but I was planning on sewing the panels together to have two large panels instead of four smaller ones. Is there a reason you didn't do this?
I was making curtains there and stopped for coffee. The way I do it is: regardless of the finished number of panels of the main curtain fabric, cut the lining length two inches shorter and the finished width two inches less (which will have your lining one inch less in length and one inch less on each side of the width than the main curtain fabric. Turn your hem of the lining fabric to the wrong side, just under two inches - just under one inch and one inch again and sew near the edge of the turn on the machine, giving you a one inch hem that will sit one inch higher than your curtain. Now do the hem on the main fabric - turn in one inch and then three inches (a three inch hem helps them hang well and you can also add curtain weights for heavy curtains). Sew the edge if you can do it with a blind stitch on your machine or do it by hand with a blind stitch - you shouldn't see any seam stitching on the main curtain fabric. Put your two finished widths of main and lining fabric right sides facing - the lining should be pinned one inch down from the top of the main fabric, matched on one side. Sew a one inch seam. Now do the same to the other side, making sure the fabrics are level and will hang correctly. Sew a one inch seam. Pink both seam allowances if necessary. Turn to the right sides and press your new curtain edges carefully, making sure your seam allowances are flat and (I prefer) turned into the edge of the fabric where they won't be seen from the outside of the window. Turn the top main fabric one inch down, over the lining fabric, tucking the edge of the main fabric in a little (a shallow triangle) so it doesn't stick out at the side, pin (I pin and baste everything before I sew, but that's old school). The bottom part of the seams should be finished by tucking the main fabric in, creating a mitre from the bottom corner to where it meets the lining fabric, one inch up. A few hand stitches will hold it in place. The only thing left to do is add heading tape on the wrong side, making sure to cover the raw edge and tuck the edges of the tape in and sew all around through all layers on the machine. Doing it this way means there's no visible stitching on the seams, there's no visible hem stitching on the main fabric and the lining hangs free, meaning it's less likely to look as if it's buckled. The hardest part of making curtains is making sure you make them the right size, pattern matching and making sure everything is square. If necessary, I will withdraw threads across and down each side (if the fabric's been cut) to get "square". I wince when they rip fabric in the store, because it often distorts the fabric, but they never cut it perfectly either. You need to get your straight edges before you begin or it will all go horribly wrong and they'll never look right when they're finished. This is why cheap, mass-produced curtains look like cheap, mass-produced curtains. Better quality fabric really does make them easier to make and look a million miles better, but you can save thousands by making them yourself.
Thanks for the video.. my liner is the same width of the decorator fabric (54" wide). My width will be most of the fabric... don I cut the liner width smaller than the fabric? Hope someone gets this.
Why did you want double the coverage of the window? I can’t figure out why you would want the curtains to be 204” in length when the window is 102” wide.
thanks (I'd say more about how much I like your video but I hate coming up with that kind of shit. But I like your video enough to care about the analytics.) :) Do more videos! :)
