How to Hand Sew Curtains
Curtains provide added privacy and can change the whole look of your room. Sewing curtains requires little sewing skill and you don't even need a sewing machine. You can hand-sew simple curtains with a needle and thread. Hand-sewing curtains takes more time than using a sewing machine, but you can do the work while watching television or listening to music. Choose cotton fabric that coordinates with your other decor. For large windows you can even make curtains from sheets. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Tape measure
- Pencil and Paper
- Scissors
- Needle
- Thread
- Straight pins
- Iron
- Tailor's chalk
- Curtain rod
Instructions
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1
Measure the width of your window with a tape measure. Make note of this measurement. Decide how long you want the curtains to be. They can fall just below the windowsill or all the way to the floor. Measure the distance from 2inches above the top of the window to the point where you want the curtains to end and write down this measurement.
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2
Add 10 inches to your length measurement. This will allow for hems at the top and bottom of your curtain. Cut your fabric to this length.
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3
Multiply the width measurement by three. Divide this number by two. Each of your two curtain panels will measure this wide. If your fabric is not wide enough you will need to cut enough lengths of fabric that when sewn together will equal this width measurement.
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4
To seam fabric panels together to make a wide enough panel, lay two panels on top of each other with the right sides of the fabric together. Place a straight pin every 3 inches to hold the fabric together.
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5
Cut an 18 inch piece of thread. Thread a sewing needle. Beginning at one end of the fabric and 1/2 inch from the edge, sew through both layers of fabric. Use small stitches. The best stitch for hand-sewing is a back stitch. Bring the needle up through both layers of fabric. Insert the needle back into the fabric approximately 1/4 inch from the point where the needle exited the fabric and pull through so the needle is once more underneath the fabric. Insert the needle into the fabric again, 1/4 inch from the point you just exited. Pull the needle through. Your needle is now on the top side of the seam. Insert the needle again back into the point where you previously inserted the needle to take it to the back side of the seam. Pull the needle through. Repeat this stitch for the length of fabric, rethreading the needle as needed.
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6
Turn under the raw edges of the fabric on either side of the curtain panel. Press with an iron. Turn under again, so that the raw edge of fabric are now enclosed in the folded fabric. Iron once more.
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Sew this hem in place using a hem stitch. Bring the threaded needle from the right side of the fabric to the wrong side. Catch the very edge of the hem with the needle. While these few threads from the hem are still on the needle, catch up a few threads of the curtain panel, right next to the hem. Pull the thread through both.
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8
Hem the top edge of the curtain panel the same way you hemmed the sides. Fold over the hemmed edge 4 1/2 inch. Press. Sew close to the edge through all layers of material, using a back stitch, all the way across the curtain.
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9
Measure 1 inch from the folded edge at the top of the curtain. Mark with a pin or tailor's chalk. Measure and mark every few inches all the way across the top of the curtain panel. Sew a running stitch along this line, all the way across the curtain panel.
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10
Thread the curtain panel onto your curtain rod, inserting the rod in the pocket that begins 2 inches below the top folded edge. Hang the curtain rod. Mark the position of your bottom hem with a straight pin.
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Remove the curtain panel from the rod. Press up 1/4 inch across the bottom of the curtain. Fold up the fabric again at the point you marked with your pin. Press. Sew the hem using a hem stitch.
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12
Make a second panel identical to the first.
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References
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