Hellobee

I’m a huge fan of curtains and love the way they complete a room. I’m also incredibly picky when it comes to curtains and have a hard time finding a fabric I love that is long enough for my windows in stores. So I recently made blackout curtains for Baby P’s nursery, and it is easier than you’d expect. I believe anyone can sew these simple curtain panels and if you don’t know how to sew, you can still make your own curtains using iron on hem tape. It’s inexpensive, sturdy, and easy to use. I’ve hemmed curtains with it in the past and they are holding up great.

Before getting started, measure your window to get the length and width of each panel. A good rule of thumb is that each panel should be about the width of the window to have the appropriate fullness, and that it should be long enough to hang high. Curtains should be hung high and wide to make your window appear larger. Hanging them low will make your window look smaller than it is. Once you determine the measurements of your window, you can use an online calculator to determine how much fabric you need per panel. I like to overestimate just a bit to be sure I have plenty of fabric. Go ahead and hang up your curtain rod too. It will help when it’s time to hem the bottom of the curtains. Now you’re ready to begin!

You will need

– fabric
– black out liner
– iron and ironing board
– pins
– scissors
– measuring tape
– seam ripper (in case of mistakes)
– snap together grommets (one pack per panel)
– marker

Step One

Iron your fabric and black out liner. The liner has two sides, one fabric and one rubber. The two sides can be hard to tell apart. The fabric side feels a bit like felt. Be sure to iron the black out liner on the fabric side on low heat.

Step Two

Fold your fabric in half length wise and iron in a crease. Use the crease as a guide to cut your fabric into two pieces. Do the same for your liner.

Step Three

You’ll need a large hard surface or floor space for this step. If using the floor, make sure to clean it first. Lay the liner fabric side down onto the floor. The fabric side of the liner will face the window. When I purchased the liner the clerk told me that it didn’t matter which side faced the window and which side faced the curtain fabric. I read a few comments online about the rubber side eventually bubbling or cracking if it faces the window, which is why I decided to face the rubber side towards the curtain fabric. Lay the fabric on top of the liner and cut away any excess.

Step Four

Pin the fabric to the liner, pulling tight as you go.

Step Five

Now it’s time to sew. Sew the fabric to the liner as close to the edge as you can, pulling out the pins as you go. When you reach the end of one side, lift the presser foot and swing the fabric around without raising the needle. Drop the presser foot and continue on the next side. Sew all four sides of the panel together. A more experienced seamstress could probable skip this step, but I like to do it because having everything sewn together makes it easier for me to hem.

Step Six

Lay your panel on the ironing board with the liner facing up. Fold over an inch to an inch and a half of fabric and iron a crease. This hides the rough ends of the fabric and will give you an edge to follow while you are hemming. You’ll do this for the top and sides of your curtain panel. You can iron all the sides and them hem them all or iron one side and hem it before moving on to the next. I prefer the latter.

Step Seven

Now it’s time to hem the edges. You can use any kind of stitch that you’d like. My sewing machine has 89 options programmed in, so I decided to use a wavy line. Hem the top and sides of your panel, but leave the bottom for later.

Step Eight

Take your panel back to the hard surface you used for step three. Lay out your panel fabric side up. Open your packet of grommets and space them out evenly on the panel. You can use your measuring tape to make sure the grommets are evenly spaced, or you can eye ball it like I did. Make sure to use an even number of grommets.

Step Nine

The pack of grommets comes with a stencil. Pick up your grommet and replace it with the stencil, lining the edge of the stencil up with the edge of the panel. Use a marker or Sharpie to trace inside the stencil. Don’t worry about marking on your fabric. The grommet is wide enough to cover it.

Step Ten

Take the scissors and carefully stab through each circle. Cut out the circle as close to the line as you can without going outside of it. Each grommet has a rubber side and a side with teeth. Place the rubber side underneath the panel and the side with teeth on top. Line the rubber side up and then snap them together. They can be hard to snap in place. I need most of my body weight to get them together.

Step Eleven

Hang your curtain panel on the rod to determine how much to hem at the bottom. Fold the excess under and pin on one side. As you can see, I greatly overestimated how much fabric I would need. I could have ordered a half yard less and still had enough.

Step Twelve

Pull the curtain back off the rod and lay it down with the liner facing up. Measure how much excess you pinned and then pin that same amount across the rest of the panel. Then hem the bottom and cut off any extra.

Repeat steps three through twelve for your second panel. Then you’re finished! Now you have custom blackout curtains that fit your taste and your windows. It took me about two hours of work per panel to make this set including the time to take pictures and notes for this post.

Tip: If you purchase blackout liner at Joann’s, make sure to check their website for a coupon first. They often have 50-60% off coupons available. Or wait for them to mark all their fabric down to 50% off. You shouldn’t have to buy it at full price.