DIY Flat Panel Lined Curtains

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Saving Thousands by Sewing Your Own Curtain Panels – A DIY Tutorial

Sewing seems to be somewhat of a lost art. But, I know many women my age who are picking up the needle (or sewing machine) again, and taking an interest in crafting and creating themselves over buying mass-made clothes/draperies and decor.

“I got quotes upwards of $1500 a panel. A PANEL! I’m sorry. Say what?”

My mother taught me how to sew over 20 years ago, but I haven’t really taken much interest in sewing, outside of making some quick and easy curtains for my classroom. Then I priced the panels for our living room a few months ago! OH. MY. GOSH. When did curtains get so expensive?? We have 20 foot ceilings in our formal living room, and 12 foot ceilings in our master bedroom. I got quotes upwards of $1500 a panel. A PANEL! I’m sorry. Say what? (Yall – I’m talking custom made panels here – not the cheap store bought ones – they don’t make those for 20 foot ceilings).

That’s when I decided it would be well worth my time to renew my interest in sewing. So I went about picking a fabric from JoAnn’s. (They didn’t have an upholstery fabric I liked in store so I special ordered.) With all of the special order fabric (which was pretty expensive), the new sewing machine, and the thread and supplies needed, I spent approximately $2500. So far, I have made curtains for the formal living and dining room, and the master bedroom. And I have enough fabric for the front bedroom and game room left. That’s a total of 13 total panels completed, and fabric for 6 additional. Let’s do the math here for a second … 19 curtain panels multiplied by $1500 is $28,500. Yea… I would say that savings is well worth my time.

The Brother CS6000i. This amazing machine can do 60 different stitches, has an extendable table for wider fabrics, self winding bobbin, self threading needle and it comes with tons of accessories.

So, if you’re like me and want to save some serious cash, and love to create things, pull out your trusty sewing machine, or buy the one I bought.

Some other supplies you will need:

  • Fabric
  • Liner (We used a blackout)
  • Thread
  • Scissors
  • Measuring tape
  • Curtain rods
  • Curtain clip rings (We used the ones on the left)

The hardest part for me was picking a fabric that I loved. I knew that if I was going to put in the time to create the curtains myself, then they needed to be so beautiful that I would love them for a long time.

Curtain Ring Clips – These work like a charm! They have a great clip that holds even the heaviest fabrics! I was doubtful at first – but no more!

For the formal living and dining areas, I selected a shiny silver threaded fabric that goes very well with my decor and is elegant enough to elevate our formal rooms, while not outshining the rest of the decor. For the bedrooms, I picked a fun patterned fabric that coordinates well with our rugs and bedding.

So, after checking out samples, and bringing them home, I held them next to the walls and other decor to make sure the patterns wouldn’t clash. I also waited to purchase until the fabric was on a great sale. You’ll notice it says $59.99 a yard in the picture on the right! Oh. My. No, I did not pay that. They were running a 40% off sale on special orders, plus I got 15% with my teacher card! So, with all the discounts I paid a little over $30 a yard. Not bad for a fabric I really love!

After getting all my fabrics in, I tackled the unlined curtains in the formal living and dining room first. The lined curtains for our master bedroom took a little bit longer because you have to wrangle two fabrics, but the end result is so worth it! No light in our bedroom at night! Woohoo!

Easy Lined Flat Panel Curtain Instructions

Here are the step by step instructions for how to sew your own lined flat panel curtains:

  1. Install the Curtain Rod.
  2. Using a measuring tape, measure from the bottom of the curtain rod to the floor.
  3. Add 8-10″ to the length you measured depending on how large you want the hems to be.
  4. Roll out your fabric on the floor (You need it to be flat, so roll it in a large hallway or open space).
  5. Use your measuring tape to measure (in inches) the height you need (Don’t forget to add for your hem).

    Sew with the backside facing up. As you can see the decorative side is facing down.

  6. Cut the fabric in a straight line using very sharp fabric scissors.
  7. Start your sewing machine. (Not sure how to get started? I will upload a quick start for the Brother CS6000i soon!)
  8. Select a simple single stitch.
  9. Hem the side of the curtains by folding over the fraying edge by 1/2″. (Sew face down)
  10. Sew a single stitch down the length of the curtain.
  11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 along all other sides.

    Flip the frayed or rough edge over by 1/2 an inch and sew a simple stitch to to hold in place.

  12. Roll out your Lining.
  13. Cut the lining to the original length you measured (No need to add for a hem).
  14. Lay out your curtain fabric face down.
  15. Layer the lining along the back side of the fabric – be sure to lay it out flat with no wrinkles.
  16. Pin about 1″ down each side of the curtain, folding the decorative fabric over the lining and inserting the pin. (Do not pin the top or bottom)

    Pin the sides of the fabric over the top of the lining by about an inch. This will create a nice even hem along the sides of the curtain panel.

  17. Sew a zig zag (or any sturdy stitch) down one side to hem the fabric removing pins as you go.
  18. Lay the fabric flat again on the floor. Make sure the pins still have both fabrics laying flat (If not readjust them).
  19. Hem down the second side of the curtain removing pins as you go.
  20. Lay your panel flat on the floor.
  21. Fold over the top of your fabric until it covers the lining by about 1/2 an inch. Pin in place.
  22. Hem the top using a sturdy stitch like the zig zag.

    Make sure you have a large enough area to lay your fabric out completely flat.

  23. Take your panel and hold it up right underneath the curtain rod. (You will need another person here).
  24. Fold the bottom until you have the curtain just barely dusting the floor. Pin in place. This will be your bottom hem. – When you add the clips, the curtain will hang even lower creating a beautiful pooling effect.
  25. Hem the bottom at the desired height.
  26. Add the clips to the top of the curtain panel and hang from the rod.
  27. Repeat for however many panels you need to make.
  28. Sit back and enjoy your hard work!

I think it goes without saying, but making something like this by hand, just gives you such a sense of pride at what you have accomplished! I LOVE the way my curtains have turned out so far, and I can’t wait to make more with my new sewing machine. Like I said above, I have 2 rooms left to finish and then who knows… maybe some throw pillows!?

What are some fun things that you have sewn?? Put your pictures in the comments!

Happy Sewing!

 

 

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How I Decide on Design

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I get asked a lot how I decide what to put in my houses, or how I make sure everything goes together. Many people don’t have the “vision.” But for me, I honestly just choose things that I like. I love watching DIY and HGTV, flipping through “Better Homes & Gardens” or browsing Pintrest and Houzz in my free time. I spend so much time looking at ideas, that when I see a space, I can pretty quickly tell what would look great in it.

In this room, I knew I wanted to make it light and bright, but also wanted a pop of drama. We went with hardwood floors, but chose to lay tile where there was the most foot traffic (for both durability and style). I also wanted to play off the beautiful fireplace and draw your focus to that wall so we painted it a deep tan that paired well with the other colors in the room. Sheer curtains and oil rubbed bronze light fixtures add a feeling of whimsy to the room.

In this room, I knew I wanted to make it light and bright, but also wanted a pop of drama. We went with hardwood floors, but chose to lay tile where there was the most foot traffic (for both durability and style). I also wanted to play off the beautiful fireplace and draw your focus to that wall so we painted it a deep tan that paired well with the other colors in the room. Sheer curtains and oil rubbed bronze light fixtures add a feeling of whimsy to the room.

For me, it’s less about doing everything in a certain color scheme or style, and more about choosing things that are welcoming and make my house feel like home. You can accomplish this in any style or with any color scheme. In our last house we chose to do earthy tones, tan paints, dark brown hardwood and light tan travertine floors, tan and white granite and white cabinets. I loved the look that we achieved, and most importantly it fit the architectural style of the house.

The house we just bought is an incredibly traditional space. And lately I’ve been falling in love with modern and contemporary interiors. But a true contemporary feel just won’t work for this space with its 8 inch crown molding and decorative paneling in multiple rooms. So I’ve opted to blend modern and traditional and we’re going for a transitional feel. We’re accomplishing this with cool grey colors, touches of modern (like lighting and sleek stainless appliances), bright white trim and cabinets and light white and grey quartz countertops. We’re maintaining the character and charm of the house by painting the paneling, adding a wood accent wall, sliding barn door and all the original trim work. We’ve highlighted the beautiful gas burning fireplaces with quartzite and marble and are doing stacked stone accents around the kitchen island and wet bar. We’re three weeks away from finish out and I simply can’t wait to share our finished product.

Adding drama to a guest bath

This was one of only two bathrooms in our first house. I knew all of my guests would see it and so I wanted it to be beautiful. I chose a pretty glass tile pattern that played off the light travertine floors and shower. The light gold framed mirror and Sea-Blue accents make this room feel calming and spa-like.

So, the bottom line is, you need to look at several factors before you jump in with both feet on a design path:

  • What is the architectural style of the house?
  • What do you REALLY LOVE? Because you’re probably going to live there a while.
  • What finishes are important to you? Is it flooring, paint, fixtures, granite/quartz/marble? Do you want Chrome, bronze, gold, brushed nickel fixtures?

And then… use your money wisely. We’ve never had a project come in on budget. Ever. But that’s another post in and of its self. Choose to update things that will make the most impact. Lighting, flooring, PAINT, Kitchens and bathrooms. These all give you great bang for your buck.

Happy renovating.

For the love of all things pretty

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I come from a family that has been involved in construction and renovation for as long as I can remember. When I was born my parents owned a paint contracting company, apparently I used to run around the job sites and play as a child. From there, they started buying residential properties and rehabbing them. I’ve been painting walls and trim since I could hold a brush. My mother would bring me along to hundreds of houses as they were looking for “the perfect one.” As she would walk through and discuss the changes she would make in each home to bring it to its potential, I too began to see the vision. Early on, I began to start envisioning my own changes to properties. I would walk through friends homes and think of all the things I would do or change or update. To put it mildly, I fell in love with renovating. I have a passion for making outdated things pretty again. I love walking in a room and sharing my vision. And so, my husband and I have continued the tradition.

We bought our first home the week before our wedding. It was a beautiful house, but had some things that I definitely wanted to update. Nothing too serious, just cosmetic fixes. We were planning to move in when we returned from our honeymoon. A week after our honeymoon, we had a giant slab leak. A pipe burst in the foundation, and I came home to several inches of water inside our house. The rehab process took over three months, there were countless sleepless nights, tons of stress and many times I felt overwhelmed. But there were also design choices, trips to pick out tile, paint, granite, baseboards, lighting and home decor. It was exhausting but I fell in love and I fell hard.

A year and half later we bought a condo in College Station, TX. This is where Texas A&M is located and where my husband and I both went to school. Property was appreciating quickly and we knew we wanted to buy a rental property that we could hold onto for years to come. We found a condo, but it needed to be completely redone – and we lived 3 hours away. We didn’t let that deter our decision to buy it. I could see the potential. It was the perfect location, great layout, on the bus route for the university, and we got the perfect price. We were all in. We drove down almost every weekend for 3 months and we renovated the entire condo ourselves.

We learned how to texture walls, install tile, install cabinets, move walls and tons of other fun DIY projects. It was a fun, exciting and exhausting time in our lives.

And I couldn’t wait for our next project.

Fast forward 2 years. We were still living in our house, and the commute for my husband was taking him 45min. We had just had a baby and family time was super important. So we decided to sell the house we loved and move closer to his job.

It turned out to be a fabulous decision! We made enough on the sale of our home to pay off my student loans, my new car, and we had a tidy sum left for a down payment and renovation for a new house.

2 years prior I got my real estate license. I knew that it would come in handy eventually and I would be able to help family and friends find a home too.

We searched for months before we found the perfect house. It had the perfect location to my husband’s job… and it needed tons of work! And that brings us to today… currently in the middle of a renovation on a house that I have fallen in LOVE with.