How to Make Piping for Curtains

Measure your curtains and make your piping to fit.

Custom piping adds a couture touch to window treatments. Cover cord with your drapery fabric to create piping that gives the edges of your curtains an understated, finished look, or use a contrasting fabric for a window treatment that "pops." Match the piping on your curtains to your upholstery for a designer accent that makes a room look elegant and expensive. Use 1/4-inch upholstery cord for light-to-medium-weight curtains.

Things You'll Need

• Yardstick
• Fabric
• Scissors
• 1/4-inch upholstery cord
• Sewing machine
• Zipper foot
• Thread

Instructions

1. Cut 2-inch strips of fabric. Cut the strips 2 inches longer than the edge where the finished piping will be attached.

2. Cut a piece of 1/4-inch-diameter upholstery cord the desired length of the piping. Upholstery cord is sold in the upholstery department of fabric stores.

3. Lay the strip of fabric on a flat surface with the wrong side up. Place the cord in the center of the strip with the short ends of the fabric strip extending 1 inch beyond each end of the cord. Wrap the strip of fabric around the cord by folding the fabric in half so the long sides of the fabric are even. Pin the fabric in place.

4. Install the zipper foot on the sewing machine. If the foot is adjustable, place the narrow side of the foot on the left. Thread the machine with thread that matches the fabric. Set the machine to sew a straight stitch with a standard stitch length.

5. Sew the edges of the fabric together, stitching as close as possible to the cord inside the fabric, so that the fabric fits smoothly around the cord. You will be stitching 1/2 inch from the edges of the fabric.

Tips & Warnings

• If the piping has to go around curves and corners, you must cut the strips of fabric on the bias. Cut on the bias by making the cuts at a 45-degree angle to the selvage edge of the fabric. The selvage is the woven strip that forms the long edges of the uncut fabric. This is not necessary if the piping will go along a straight edge.

• Finish the edges of the piping by either enclosing them in a seam or folding the extra fabric under.