How To Make Lined Curtain Panels

Curtain panels add elegance and polish to an otherwise plain window.

Curtain panels are an elegant and versatile window decoration and are fairly easy to make. Knowing how to sew these simple fabric panels will give you endless home decorating options. Lining your drapery panels will not only make them more durable, but they will drape more beautifully with the added weight and will block more light from your window.

Things You'll Need

• Measuring tape
• Home decorating fabric
• Lining fabric
• Pins
• Sewing machine and thread
• Iron

Instructions

1. Decide how long you want your finished drapery panel to be. While there are endless options, you must determine the look you want. Consider the formality of the room. Floor length panels are elegant and perfect for a formal room, such as a dining room, while curtains that stop at the window sill or just below are more suited for a less formal setting, such as a kitchen or family room. Also take into account how you plan to hang your finished panels. If you will be using sliding ring clips, for example, you will need to measure from where the clips will attach to your panel, not from the rod itself. If you have a small room, draperies can add the illusion of height when you hang them four to five inches from the ceiling, and pooling the fabric on the floor can look very graceful. Home décor fabric usually comes in 60-inch widths. It is advisable to use the entire width of the fabric to achieve a full and polished look to your finished draperies.

2. Once you have determined the finished length of the panel, cut your fabric, and add eight inches to the desired finished length. This extra fabric is needed to allow for the panel's rod casing and hem. With the finished side of the fabric facing down, press a one-inch fold around the entire panel. Make another one-inch fold on the panel sides and press. Make a three-inch fold at the top and bottom edges of your panel and press. Do not sew these into place yet. (Please note that if you are using a curtain rod of an unusually large diameter, adjust the allowance for your rod casing.)

3. Cut your lining fabric to the finished dimensions of your panel, and lay it flat onto the panel. It should fit nicely within the pressed folds you created on your decorating fabric. Fold in the sides of the decorating fabric to cover the edges of the lining fabric. Pin to secure and sew. Repeat this step with the top and bottom edges of your panel.

4. You now have a finished, lined, curtain panel. Slide onto your curtain rod and gather for a beautifully finished window.