Its Crate & Barrel style! (sorry, I couldn’t help myself, that song is taking over the universe)
After a long hiatus from blogging due to a cross country move, the start of a new job and getting settled in our new home, I thought I’d start off with a post on home decor since we’ve been doing so much of it lately. Hubs and I recently moved into a cute, little rental with lots of character and were in need of some curtains for our bedroom. We have hardwood floors and some vintage, solid wood dressers that are much too gorgeous to repaint a la Pinterest so I wanted some type of graphic print in the citron-yellow range to brighten up the room. I was having a hard time finding anything I really liked, except for these $278 babies ($139 for only one panel!!) at Crate & Barrel.
I couldn’t bring myself to spend that much on curtains so continued my search in fabric stores to see what it would cost to make my own. After all, basic curtains are simply two large rectangles, with some finished edges, right? Imagine my surprise when I found the EXACT fabric from an online discount fabrics retailer for 80% off for the yardage I needed! That’s right, I only paid $50 to make two curtains!
I did not line these as they are decorative, but you could do it easily with some inexpensive muslin to add some weight. I am pretty happy with the results, and best of all, I didn’t have to spend a fortune for my Crate & Barrel taste!
What you need:
- 5 yards of fabric (for two, standard 84-inch curtains)
- matching thread (I used white)
- pins
- iron & ironing board
What you do:
- Take your 5 yard piece of fabric and cut it in half into two, 2.5 yard pieces.
- Start pinning the sides first with a 1.5 inch hem.
Make sure to take a look at your fabric design and see what you want your edge to be. I preferred my edge to be just outside the circle part of the design. First I pinned where I wanted the edge to be, then folded the unfinished edge under. May seem redundant, but this is how I made sure to keep things straight and even.
- Sew your pinned sides then break out your iron and iron your edges flat.
- Now, its time to pin the bottom of the curtain. Again, I used a 1.5 inch hem to match the sides, though I believe the Crate and Barrel ones have a 3 inch hem. To make sure things were straight, I used the underside of the pattern to line up the lines of the design.
- Determine how long you want your curtain to be and pin the length. Make your rod opening at least 3 inches, then pin under the unfinished edge. Depending on how long you want your curtains to be, you may need to cut off excess fabric at this step.
*A standard curtain you buy at a store is typically 84 inches long (the ones at Crate and Barrel are actually 96 inches, which was waaaaay longer than I wanted). Our landlord hung the curtain rod on the actual window frame, which in interior design is not what you are supposed to do – you should hang it above and beyond the edges of the frame. In any case, because of this and not wanting to rehang the curtain rod, my finished curtains were 81 inches so as to not crumple on the floor, so I did need to cut some fabric at this step.
- Before you sew, check your length by hanging pinned fabric from curtain rod. Adjust length as necessary, then sew! Hang and admire your handiwork. And if the moment strikes you, break into a little horse dance…you’ve earned it crafty lady!
