**I received fabric in exchange for this tutorial and review. No other product or compensation was received. My thoughts and opinions are 100% my own and others may have a different opinion.**
I recently bought a house and have no window coverings for it. I thought it was about time to make some window coverings. These curtains are going to be for my son's room and he is so excited about it. I haven't made curtains for him since he was a toddler and he is now 11. This fabric was so much fun I was so excited to use it. This fabric is from Riley Blake Designs and it is their home decor fabric. I LOVE the home decor fabric. It is perfect for making anything decor item in your home and it is very durable. I also love how easy it is to sew with compared to other home decor fabric.
This fabric is from the All Star line of Riley Blake's Home Decor Fabric.
I decided to make lined pleated curtains to help them hold a little more light out and just to add an extra layer.
First I cut the fabric to the length I needed for the windows I was doing. In this case I cut them 40" long by the width of fabric. At this time you will also want to cut the selvage off of your fabric.
Next I took a layer of muslin for the lining. I cut the muslin just slightly smaller on the top and bottom of the outer fabric of the curtain and then on the sides I left it quite a bit smaller for the next step. Lay right sides of fabric together. You will be sewing the two sides together. The sides will have more excess fabric than the top and bottom and that is the look you are going for. (I used the width of fabric on the muslin which was like 40" wide and it was perfect to have the excess of the outer fabric of the 55" wide home decor fabric)
Line up one of the sides (right sides together) with the top end all the way to the corner. You will want the top edge to be flush and line up with top of the fabric and have the excess main fabric to be on the bottom side. You will then sew down the other side lining up the edges. Your curtain will now look like the picture below.
At this point you will want to turn right sides out and press the edges of your curtains. You want the excess to be on the back side so it will look like the lining fabric is pulling the main fabric to the back. See picture below.
Once your curtain is all pressed you will want to start the top hem. Fold the fabric over twice to hide the raw edge then sew a seam to have a finished top edge.
Next you will make the pleats in your curtains. Fold the curtain in half and mark the middle. You will want to make the middle pleat first and then work your way out. You can make as many pleats as you wish. Since this was a boy curtain I decided to only do a few pleats. For a more girly look I would do many more pleats in the curtains.
Make a crease and then fold a small fan type fold so you have 3 little layers together.
Pin at the top of the pleat and then down to where you want to stop the pleat. I pinned and made my seam go about 3" down from the top. So my pleat looks like this
I ended up with 5 pleats on each of my panels because of the size of panel I was doing. You may need to adjust the distance of your pleats or the amount of pleats depending on how much fabric you are using.
Last I did the hem of the bottom of the curtains. I folded it in about a half an inch then an half an inch again to hide the raw edges. Then I hand sewed a whip stitch into just the lining of the curtain so that you could not see it from the outside.
Here are my finished pleated curtains. I really enjoyed making these curtains. I LOVE Riley Blake fabric and was so excited to be able to use their fabric decor line. I look forward to many more projects.
Make sure to check out all these other talented bloggers and their amazing Home Decor Projects!
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6/30 – Simple Simon & Co
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I wish you luck with making your own pleated curtains. I hope you love them as much as I do. They are quick and easy to make and different than your traditional curtain. If you have any questions feel free to email me or leave me a comment below. Leave me a comment telling me what you like about these curtains.
**I received fabric in exchange for this tutorial and review. No other product or compensation was received. My thoughts and opinions are 100% my own and others may have a different opinion.**
