Easiest. Curtains. EVER.

Ok, so it was sad.  Not sad as in hand-me-a-tissue-there's-something-in-my-eye...sad as in "I can't believe I am this lazy" sad. 

My kitchen has been in need of curtains since I moved into the house (3 years ago!!!  Go team procrastination!).  The windows had ugly brown metal blinds that definitely had to go.  But after shopping around, I couldn't find curtains that I liked.  I decided "I'll just make some instead!"  And then I didn't.  For 3 years. 

Until inspiration hit (YAY!)!  I was walking into the grocery store and there was a shopping cart full of stuff that was on clearance!  I couldn't resist the big red CLEARANCE. (Side note, I read on a wed design blog that red is a colour used to encourage action...hmmmm...) As I'm digging through, I notice a tablecloth there for 50% off.  It was $8.99.  It was 70"x70".

SCORE!  I have 2 windows in the kitchen that are 35" wide each.  At first I was all "WOAH gear down Big Rig, I can't make curtains!" and then I was like "Dude, it's sewing a rectangle and sticking a curtain rod through it".  And so began my "curtains from a clearance tablecloth" project.

I decided to do kind of the "cafe" style curtain.  Both because I like how they look, and it seemed the easiest option for "making it up as you go" :)

These curtains only had 3 simple steps..which I have since expanded to 7 for the sake of clarity.  (I figured Fold. Pin. Sew. didn't really cover it...)

Here it is, in more detail!
1. Remove table cloth from packaging, iron out all the creases and cut it in half. (mine was 70x70 which made it perfect for my needs.  You may have to cut to size to fit your windows).


Step 2, 3 and 4 make the ruffle and
the pocket for the curtain rod.



2. Fold over the cut edge a little bit and iron. (You don't actually have to sew a hem in it now, but folding it will give you a cleaner line for later. Trust me.)

3. Decide how long you want the ruffle over the curtain rod to be.  I decided I wanted it to be 3 inches. I also allowed 2 inches for the "pocket" for the curtain rod to go through. So I folded so I had 5 inches.  Iron a good crease and pin in place. 

4. Using fabric pencil or chalk (or pins for that matter) make a line marking out where you'll sew to make the pocket for the curtain rod.



5. If you want to add ribbon, this is the step for you!  I decided to put it along the bottom of the curtain.  Added bonus, I was able to use the hem that was already in the tablecloth as a guide to make sure the ribbon was straight.  I put it on the front and back of the curtains so that you could see it out the windows too.



Step 5. Pin the ribbon in place



I decided to put ribbon on both sides



6. To the sewing machine!!  Sew along the pins and the chalk/fabric pencil line you made for the pocket. 

7. Sew the ribbon in place (I made sure to line up the ribbon so I only had to sew a straight line along each edge of the ribbon and it stitched both the front and back ribbons in place).

 2 Curtains - ALL DONE! And it only involved sewing 8 straight lines! (4 per curtain).  That's my kinda project!!  :)

Please excuse all the dishes.  Prince Charming had just
finished washing up and they are all drying.  Isn't he great?

I did a silly happy dance when these
were hung.  I don't think I've ever
been so excited about curtains!



See? Curtains don't have to be a huge ridiculous expense, or a scary scary sewing project! 

Get creative and have fun!! :)