Oh so easy…

As I said in my last post, I’ve recently discovered how easy it is to make lined valances…how come no one told me!! So yesterday between meetings with sales reps I made another one for the living room…but of course I forgot my camera at home!  When I got home I whipped (and I mean whipped) up the second one and took photos to share with anyone that doesn’t know how easy they are to make (like me two months ago).

First you need to measure the width of the window and decide the length you want the curtain to be.  The picture in my last post was a “typical” window (kitchen) which measured 39” and the curtain I had there was 18” long…I went with that.  Now the next part is personal preference…I like a full curtain so I went with around 2 1/2 times the width of the window for fabric.  So I had 2 1/2 yards of curtain fabric and  2 1/2 yards of lining fabric which gave me two windows.  If you only have one window get half the length, cut it on the fold and sew together on the short ends to make one long piece.

Now cut both fabrics on the fold.  Measure down the length of the outer curtain fabric, add 1/2” for seams (in my case 18 1/2”) and cut.  I now had a piece of fabric 18 1/2” x roughly 90”.  I left the lining fabric as it was…did not cut it down to the 18 1/2”.


Layer the two pieces right sides together and pin along the long edges…this keeps it from slipping.  Sew 1/4” seams on the long edges only.

 
Now trim the lining fabric even with the outer fabric and square off the ends.
Next, press the seams open…this will make it so much easier to press when you turn the curtain right side out.  But before you turn it you may want to press the short ends.  My friend Janet gave me this great tip.

Using a reference line on an index card (or in my case a recipe card) press the raw edge down (about 1/2”).  This helped to keep my ends pretty consistent when I needed to sew this edge (thanks Janet!).  Now turn the curtain right side out and press the long edges nice and flat so the lining fabric doesn’t show from the front (pressing the seams open really helps here).
The next step is to mark the lines for the rod pocket.  I wanted a 2” header and the rod was 1”…so I drew a line 2” from the top and 1 1/2” below that for the rod (add a 1/2” to the rod measurement) miracle chalk crayon works very nicely for marking.  Sew on the two lines back stitching at the start and finish of each (again I pinned to keep the two fabrics from shifting).

Finally top stitch the short ends leaving the rod pocket open…in other words from the top to the first line and then the second line to the bottom.  I did back stitch these as well.  Give the curtain a final press (this gets the miracle chalk lines out), hang and enjoy your new found talent!!


Okay the kitchen is done…living room almost…next the bedroom or sewing room or office…………………