How to Make Carolina-Style Country Curtains
Carolina-style curtains have a lot of ruffles all along the edges. These curtains give the feeling of being in a country home. The ruffles on Carolina-style country curtains are very full and frilly. Sometimes people refer to this type of curtain as country French. These curtains are not too difficult to make. Many times they are made with white or cream-colored fabric. Add a contrasting-colored fabric that matches the décor of the rest of the room for the tiebacks. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- 6 yards of fabric
- Measuring tape
- Dinner plate
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Pins
- Sewing machine
- Thread
Instructions
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Measure from the top of your window casing to the bottom of the window casing to get the measurement for your curtain panels. Add six inches and cut out the panels.
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2
Cut one corner of each panel into a curve by layering the curtain panels with wrong sides together on a flat surface. Place a round dinner plate at the corner of the panels and trace around it with a pencil. Cut out the curve of the curtain.
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Turn under the raw edges on the uncurved sides of both curtain panels one-half inch and again another one-half inch and use pins to hold the fabric in place. Sew from the bottom hem.
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4
Measure the curtain length, including around the curve and along the bottom of the curtain. Use this length and cut out six pieces of fabric to that length by four inches wide for the ruffles. Sew three of the ruffle lengths together end to end for one curtain panel and repeat with the other three lengths for the other curtain panel.
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Turn under the raw edges on one side of the ruffle lengths one-quarter inch and again another one-quarter inch. Use pins to hold in place. Sew down the length of the ruffle to form the hem. Repeat with the other ruffle length.
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Repeat the process to hem both short ends of the ruffle lengths.
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Adjust your sewing machine to make a gathering stitch. Sew the gathering stitch into the remaining long side of both of the ruffle lengths. Make sure to leave eight inches of extra thread to use to form the actual ruffles.
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Pin one ruffle length to one side of the curtain panel. Move the ruffle down six inches from the top of the curtain to allow for the rod casing later. Make sure the right sides are together and the raw edges line up.
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Find the middle of both the curtain panel and the ruffle and pin together. Pull the gathering threads for one half of the ruffle at a time. Use plenty of pins to hold your ruffle in place while you sew.
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Repeat with the other curtain panel and ruffle.
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Fold down the top of the curtain panels six inches or down to the ruffle. Fold under the raw edge one-half inch, hold with pins and sew in place. Sew another seam two inches down from the top of the curtain to make the rod casing and complete the curtain panels.
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Tips & Warnings
Use lightweight cotton when making your Carolina-style country curtains for the best results.
If dividing your curtain in half does not seem like enough when gathering the ruffle, divide it into fourths and work one section of gathering at a time.
