DIY Window Treatment Tutorial

Here is my tutorial for the latest DIY Window treatment, also known as a "mis-treatment" because this was done with NO sewing!  How can you beat that?

Before:

Some people would be fine.  But for me, something was missing.  Valance?  NO.  Cornice Board?  NO.  Jabot Swag?  NO.    I needed "weight" against that far wall, and long panels would be perfect. 

Are you needing a quick window treatment and not a lot of time?

Are you low on funds and just want something nice but inexpensive?

Do you want to "Wow" all your friends who will never believe YOU did this?

Then this tutorial is for you!  Here are the supplies you will need:

Iron
Pins
Stitch Witchery (regular or heavy weight)
ruler
scissors
cup hooks
drapery rings
Fabric
Fabric Glue (optional, for trim)

Measure your window and decide how high you want to mount your curtains.  Sometimes mounting them higher to the ceiling gives the room a nice elongated look.

We decided on a nice narrow panel, and saved on fabric.  We purchased 3 yards of 45" fabric, folded it in half, ironed it down for a seam, and then cut it in half, giving me the 2 panels.  I also wanted this pattern to show more, so I did not plan on putting the cup hooks very close together.    Keep these things in mind as you pick your fabric. 

1 yard = 36 inches
3 yards = 108 inches
108 inches = 9 feet

Don't forget to allow a little bit for your hems at the top and bottom.  The sides are going to fold down less than 1/2 inch, so rarely impact your yardage requirements. 

I ironed my fabric in half and cut down the entire length, giving me 2 panels.

This is a big TIP for you - have you ever had trouble deciding which was was "UP" on your fabric?  You can often look at the selvage area (the white edge) and you will see an arrow showing which way is up.  Take pins or safety pins and mark on all panels so you won't forget as you move along, losing the selvage as a guide.

Some people trim off the selvage area before starting, so be sure to check for this arrow before you do that.  I knew I could just fold the selvage down as a the side hem, so I left it.

Here I put a pin in out of the way so I could remember which was was "up".

Take your handy dandy Stitch Witchery and lay down along the edge, where you will be folding over and ironing down.

You do not need to double fold your edge.  Just fold it over and iron down ON TOP OF the Stitch Witchery.  The Stitch Witchery will melt and become glue-like, holding your fabric.  Keep the Stitch Witchery within the fabric so it doesn't get on your iron.  This takes literally seconds.  Do this the length of your panels on both sides.  (So 4 total - with 2 panels)  It did not take me 20 minutes to do all 4 sides.

This view shows the top of one panel, with the sides done. 

I folded down about an inch and a half for the top hem as you can see.  I put a pin on the side, to line up the edges for when I use the Stitch Witchery again for the hem.  You want these even and not overlapping.  

After I hem down the top edges on both panels, we are ready to hang. 

Here we hung the cup hooks about 10 inches apart and put the drapery clips on the fabric.  I wasn't sure at this point if we were going to add any solid brown panels, or trim, so here are some things we tried, using pins (temporary).

See how much shorter that brown panel made the curtain panel look?

For this trial of the solid brown fabric, I literally just put a piece of fabric under the drapery hooks, not hemmed or anything.  Just wanted an idea. 

 

Did I want the trim about this far down?

How about a double row?

I tried different things - and finally decided on one row of the gimp trim at the top.  Doing all this with pins saves tons of time not having to redo things later.  

Before taking the panels down, we marked the bottom for the hem to save a step.

 Lay your trim down in the desired spot, leaving some at the edges to roll under to avoid fraying.

I put paper towels down in case the glue dripped, protecting the ironing board cover and fabric.

Put glue on the very edge and roll under.

Use a ruler to place the trim - I love using this type of ruler as it has a marker that stays in place where you choose.  I used this to place the trim all across the top so it was even.  Putting glue every so often.

 

Once the trim was glued down and set, I worked on the hem.  Because we are in a rental and may move, I wanted to leave some flexibility in these curtains.  Instead of chopping off the excess, I decided to keep it and just hem it this way.  It is undetectable and gives me choices in the future.

Put the Stitch Witchery again under the edge of the fabric and iron down.  In seconds, Voila'!!  Panels are finished!!

After one last pressing to get all the wrinkles out, my wonderful husband helped with the installation!  (I am NOT allowed on ladders!  lol)

Before:


After

For links to other DIY Window Treatments I have done, click HERE.

Have a glorious day!

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