Making 3 Curtains from One!

This was both a great idea and a disaster. So we have our curtains in our living room - red burlap material. I thought hey! Let's buy one curtain from Target. Cut it in half to use the top half for a curtain in the kitchen and make No-Sew Faux Roman Shades! Oops...

Part One: Kitchen
This part of the project was an afterthought. I bought the curtain panel to try to Roman Shades. When asked what I was going to do with the top part, I realized the bottom of the panels were already hemmed (so I could use those for the tops of the roman shades) and use the top of the curtain panel in the kitchen! It was a win win situation!

Where I got the idea: Myself & my mother

Time: Less than 1 hour

Shopping List:
Scissors
Heat-n-Bond - like this but in a roll..at Wally World it's under $2
Iron & Ironing Board
Measuring Tape
Curtain Rod (we used the existing ones in the kitchen)
One Curtain Panel (54x84")


Instructions

 1. Prep - Fold the curtain and cut! This wasn't done in half, I think I cut the bottom 1/3rd. The curtain I used had large stitching, so I was able to follow those lines. Thank god, because I'm horrible at these things, I've learned.

2. Hem - This was very easy! I measured down from the top to make sure everything was even and gave the curtain an even hem. After you pin the hem, put the Heat-n-Bond strips in and iron as directed. I was super excited about this one and how it turned out. Although, I do need to iron it again.

3. Hang - Then just hang the rods! I like how long they are (not done intentionally). It's very nice, because that side of the house gets the hot southern sun (because we're in Georgia and it faces South).



Part Two: Dining Room
Okay so this one WOULD HAVE turned out better if I was a little better at lines, straight lines, measuring, etc. It also would have been soooooooooooooooooooo much easier with a sewing machine. Need to ask for one of those for Christmas. Anyway, so I was going to do Faux Roman Shades. Unfortunately, my straight lines aren't great.
Where I got the idea: i should be mopping the floor

Time: 4 hours

Shopping List: 
Scissors
Heat-n-Bond - like this but in a roll..at Wally World it's under $2..you'll need 2-3 rolls
Iron & Ironing Board
Measuring Tape and a Yard Stick
Curtain Rods (we got these for cheap)
One Curtain Panel (54x84") - the left over from the first project!

Instructions

1. Prep  -  Okay so for these shades, if you actually measure them, I think they'll come out fine. I tried, but failed. So take the bottom section of the blinds and cut them in half. This should give you two identical pieces of fabric. Before you think about the folds, hem the edges. Make sure they are even on each side, because they will be hanging next two each other and thus identical. People will be able to see where you screwed up (hint).

The side that was already hemmed was an inch thick, so I stuck with that. Measure & pin all the way around. As you're pinning, slide the heat bond under the fabric edge. As you can see from the picture above, the corners will need extra. This was in a large part due to the thickness of the curtains.

 



2. Measure Folds  - My initial thought was to use tension rods to hold the curtains (I couldn't do as I Should be Moping did, because these were on doors).  Lightly fold over about where you want your folds to go. Mine were about every 7 inches apart with the folds being 2 inches wide. I used a yard stick to create a white line across the fabric. These actually came out relatively straight.

The bottom line is for the bottom fold and the top line is for the top fold (if that makes sense). Basically this makes the entire fold 2 inches wide. I think if I had JUST bonded the top of the fabric, it would have been fine. I was a bit overzealous with the heat-n-bond.

3. Iron - Because the material was so thick, I basically had to hold the iron on the fold for a good 20 seconds. This was a stark contrast to the hem I did on my pants which took 30 minutes total.  This took a lot of time for both curtains. If you already have a sewing machine, I strongly suggest using a sewing machine instead.


4. Hang - So our door is apparently steel. We broke two drill bits (and had a bit of an anger fit) trying to hang these things. We then had to rehang them twice, because they weren't measured. No names being mentioned. As you can see, they aren't perfectly even. I do feel as though I could try and make real Roman Curtains now. Especially now that I know where my mistakes went.

All in all had my lines been straight, under $35 for two faux roman curtains & a long curtain in the kitchen wasn't bad at all!