A Simple Curtain

Last week while I was busy sewing for Halloween, I was also working on some home decor.  My house is pretty maxed out for home decor at the moment, but I find sewing very relaxing, so I whipped up a little curtain for my neighbors.  The awesome ones that surprised me with Red Mango.

I first saw this style of curtain at Annee's house in Colorado.  She was inspired by a Pottery Barn curtain.  Then on one of my trips to my House in the South I discovered that my mom purchased these curtains for all her upstairs windows.  I knew I needed to get in on the action, and I now have two windows in my house with this very style of curtain.  They are so simple and so quick to make.

This is a tutorial of sorts.  I took a bunch of pictures, and I hope that it can help guide you through the simple process.  If you have any questions, please let me know!

After measuring the window, I added an extra inch to the width for seam allowances, and I added approximately 4 inches to the length for seam allowances (I usually use 1/2  inch allowances) and to make a hole for curtain rod.  I cut two rectangles out of this measurement.  One out of my curtain fabric and one out of muslin that will be my liner fabric.

Then you will need 5 ties approximately 2 inches wide and your length will vary based on how long you want them to be.  To make the ties you take two stripes of fabric and sew them right sides together on the length and then turn them inside out.

Here's a picture of all my fabric cut and prepped to be sewn together.  The ties complete in this picture.

On to assembling the curtain.  First you take one of your ties and position it horizontally on your rectangle.  Remember that the top of your curtain is going to be folded over about 3 inches.  It will look like this:

After I placed my horizontal tie, I evenly spaced out two more ties that will be sewn perpendicular to the horizontal tie.  

Pin everything like crazy and sew long both the top and bottom of the horizontal tie.

Next pin the last two ties to the top of the curtain lining them up with the two ties sewn into the horizontal tie.  See picture below.

Next layer muslin over everything, and pin like crazy again.  Also, I use safety pins to sew the ties in place while I'm sewing the muslin to the top of the curtain.

Sew all around the rectangle, but leave an opening at the top of the curtain to help you flip the curtain inside out.  Once you've sewn the muslin to the curtain top, pull the curtain through the hole!

It should look something like the picture below.  I tucked the ties that were sewn to the top of the curtain to the back.

Next you need to make the curtain rod whole.  Fold over the top of the curtain top to the back of the curtain approximately 3 inches (you can make this smaller if you'd like), and stitch in place.

Next close up the tie ends.  I just folded my tie ends inside the tie and top stitched it.

Then you hang up your new curtain!

Pretty easy, right?  I'm thinking I might make another one of these for my sewing space and use this quilting technique for the curtain front.  I've had this idea for a couple of weeks maybe months now.  I wonder when it will get pushed to the top of the to do list!  I'll keep you posted.