How to Make Curtains Out of Cloth Napkins
Cloth napkins are an easy, attractive and inexpensive way to update your windows fast, without sewing. By keeping just a few clips and ribbons on hand, you can turn a set of beautiful but seldom-used cloth napkins, into a stylish, updated window treatment in literally a few minutes. In addition, you won't damage your napkins, so when you want to change your look, it's as easy as "iron, clip and tie." Best of all, this is a green project: You are helping the environment by repurposing beautiful linens.
Cloth napkins come in three basic (finished) sizes: 5-inch (beverage size), 10-inch (lunch size), and 20-inch (dinner size). The most commonly used napkin is the dinner size. Commercial cloth napkins come in a wide variety of fabrics and finishes. Our curtain design will not damage your napkin, making this perfect for decorators using vintage linens with fine embroidery or lace.
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Instructions
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Making a Napkin Curtain
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1
Iron the napkins you have chosen to use as curtains. You may have many different sizes. In this example, we will layer two napkins together to achieve a dimensional effect.
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2
With the face side down and any tags positioned toward the back and top, align your napkins so that the front napkin (teal in this example) is 1/4 inch higher than the second napkin (pink).
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3
Gather two 1/4-inch pleats of the combined fabric and attach a clip approximately 2 inches from the top edge. Repeat this in the center and at the other end. I like to leave an end of fabric of about 1 inch to disguise the clips from any side view.
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4
Snap the transparent plastic tabs and pivot them so that the loop faces the top. Thread your ribbon through this end, allowing a large enough ribbon loop to accommodate your curtain rod. Knot and make a bow (as you like it).
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5
Hang your curtain.
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Tips & Warnings
Carefully examine your napkins for holes, stains or damage, and position them together in such a way as to show the beauty of the design but hide the problems. This curtain will not damage your fabrics, and the I.D. clips are less than 10 percent of the cost of commercial curtain rings. This type of curtain is perfect for children's toppers where blinds are covering the window, and in kitchen and bath applications as well. You can change these out easily for seasonal color, and you can use them as napkins later.
Try not to get your clips wet, since any inexpensive metal can rust. If you are using vintage fabrics, you may want to put a small bit of buffer fabric between the grips and your fragile linens.
Resources
- Photo Credit F.R.R. Mallory, et.al. 2009
