Make Simple Curtains And Valance For Any Window
By Robin Hall, Fri Dec 9th

Making a quick set of curtains and a valance is something thatyou can do even if you don’t have much sewing experience. It’sjust a matter of thinking through the process and calculatingfor fabric needed and knowing how to use a sewing machine.

Tools needed: calculator, pencil and paper, tape measure, yardstick, pins, scissors, iron, thread and sewing machine.

Decide what color or pattern will work best with your room décornow. Going to the fabric store is always one of my most funtimes, I keep my imagination open and get swatches of fabrics(and prices) the first time to see what all my options are. Takeswatches home and start eliminating them by laying them next tomajor parts of the already decorated room (couch, chair, tables,walls, etc). Once you’ve decided on your fabric start measuring.

To measure for material, decide how long you would like thevalance to be. Where will you place the curtains in the window?Will you do them café style or halfway down the window? Maybeyou only want a small space between the valance and curtain, useyour imagination, draw a sketch of the window and do someplacements on it to see what looks good.

Once you make these decisions, measure from your top referencepoint (top of window, top of rod) down to where you want thevalance to end. Add additional 7” for top and bottom hems(thiswill give you 3” for top hem, which rod will go through and 4”for bottom hem). Let’s say you want your valance to be 10” long,add 7” for hem and you have 17”. Now measure for your bottomcurtains. The same goes here, measure from top reference point(where your curtains will start) to just BELOW or ABOVE thewindowsill. Add the 7” to this length. EXAMPLE: 32” bottomcurtain length, add 7” = 39”. Write all this down. For widthacross, measure across window from outside to outside molding.Depending on how “full” you want the curtains will be thedeciding factor on how much material you purchase. Normalfullness recommendation would be twice the window width, or atleast ½ again as much. We are going to be very basic, let’s saya normal window is 36” across X 60” length. This means you willneed to calculate double the width for the valance and curtains,but remember the curtains are split in the middle. Most materialwill run 36”–44” (regular material) to 60” (drapery & upholsterymaterial) in width. If you choose a fabric width of 36”- 44”, itwill be easier to just use the width and cut a little off theends it needed.

Now it’s time to go get your material! Take your swatch, sketchand measurements with you! I would recommend a pliable fabricthat is easy to work with (cotton, broadcloth, etc). Have yourmaterial store sales person help you with calculating theamount, and give you any details in laying especially if it hasa design going a specific way or has a nap. In most cases, 3-3½yards should be plenty per window.

Pre-wash the material if you choose. If you do not pre-washmaterial and wash the curtains later expecting them to be thesame length, you may be surprised! If you have pre-washed yourmaterial, take it out of dryer, fold in half, wrong side out (ifyou can tell), like it was previously from store off the bolt,and lay it on your surface and smooth it out (table, floor,etc). Do the same for 60” width material; this will make iteasier to handle. You may want to touch up with an iron.

Time to mark the fabric and cut! Your material is now laid out(not many wrinkles). You’ll want to get an even line across thetop using your yardstick. Mark a straight line with a pencilalong the top (if darker material a pen will work or even chalkif you have it). Eyeball it to make sure it looks even,sometimes the fabric store will not cut it even so it’s up toyou. This will be your starting reference point (this will be acutting line for you). Get your calculations for the length foreach: valance and curtain. Now measure from that straight linedown for valance length needed, do this twice because it needsto be doubled for fullness (unless 60” width fabric). Make amark. Do the same halfway across and on the folded edge. Now putyour yardstick across from mark to mark and draw a line (thiswill also be a cutting line). Do the same for curtains. Eachcurtain side gets its own length (unless 60” width fabric). Graba couple of pins and pin just inside the edges and lines of eachsection you marked. Cut along lines. You should now have 4pieces cut, 2 for the valance and 2 for each curtain side. Onceagain were going to mark, this time on the right side of fabric.Open up your pieces, right side of fabric up, lay them outstraight, using a pencil, lightly mark 3” down from straight topon each piece, make several marks across. Use yardstick toconnect marks to make a straight line. Do the same on thebottom, 4” up from straight edge. Mark 1” in on both side edgesof each piece. Mark all pieces. Make sure all marks are lightlyplaced on outside of fabric, but dark enough so you

can seethem. Sew two valance pieces together. Press seam flat. Sewoutside edges of all pieces turning under ½” twice (will be 1”all together, pencil line should be on outside edges), press &stitch along inside folded under edge. Press up hems to insideof material along all marked lines. Fold them under ½ of widthand press again. Stitch along that folded edge on inside.Holding fabric as you stitch to make sure fabric doesn’t bunchup. You should have a 2” bottom hem for each piece and a 1½” hemfor top hem to slide curtain rods through. Make sure tobackstitch when you begin sewing and at the end to reinforcestitching from coming out. Voila’, there you have it! Thisprocess should only take about 1½ hours. Put your rods throughthe top hems of curtains. Put up valance and curtains.

About the author:About the Author: Robin Hall has been a successful Tailor withover 30 years in business. She has sewn everything includinghome décor items. She has just started an online home décorstore where you will find great products including great tips ondecorating and home improvement. Stop by and see us/her atwww.coollampsnstuff.com or send email with questions tosales@coollampsnstuff.com

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