How To Brand Inexpensive Curtains Hold Off Custom

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Frank bought our solid from an 87-year-old man. He manifestly had a affair for pastels. And, apparently, Frank does too, because he did aught to remedy the situation. The living room was a tricolor Easter egg of pastel peach, mint green, in addition to cream. In other words, a nightmare. I promptly began redecorating. One of my get-go tasks: removing the vertical blinds (who e'er liked those anyways?), which featured the same hideous trio of colors every bit the walls. 

 I envisioned a sweeping duet of linen botanical impress panels. Yeah, couldn't notice those. Unless, of course, I wanted to drib a grand on the 4 panels the room requires. 

Curtains are tricky. I'm likewise budget-conscious to blow hundreds of dollars on custom curtains, nonetheless I loathe the generic hold off of store-bought panels. Alas, I settled on Nate Berkus curtains from Target that conduct maintain an Aztec-inspired border. (I told myself this made them unique.) But when hence I hung them, I realized I'd made a novice mistake: They were hovering most a human foot to a higher identify the ground, similar overflowing pants. That's completely unacceptable. 
Original panel (left); altered panel (right)
My solution: I purchased muslin inwards the same off-white color every bit the curtains, sewed it to the bottom, hence decked out the novel add-on alongside rows of fringe. The extra panel looks completely seamless in addition to allows the curtains to pool beautifully. The total terms of all 4 panels? $160. Not bad.

Want to upgrade your ain curtains? Start past times touchstone the distance, inwards inches, from the bottom of your existing curtains to the floor. Add ten inches to that. This allows plenty for a 4-inch hem in addition to most 1 inch of puddling, in addition to also accounts for the seam betwixt the add-on in addition to your acquaint panels.

 Example: 12 inches to the flooring + ten inches = 22 inches

 Now mensurate the width of each mantle panel (in inches), add together 2 inches to that (to allow a1-inch hem on either side), in addition to multiply that past times the position out from above. 

 Example: (54 inches + 2 inches) x 22 inches = 1,232 foursquare inches

 This is the surface area of cloth y'all demand to buy per panel. 

 Now interpret that to yards. One yard of cloth is 36 inches long. The width volition vary according to the size of the bolt; most bolts are 45 inches, simply tin attain anywhere from thirty to lx inches. (Hint: Bring a touchstone record to the cloth store!) Assuming the bolt is 45 inches wide, a yard of cloth is 1,620 foursquare inches. Divide the surface area of the cloth y'all require past times the surface area of a yard of cloth to decide the yardage y'all require per panel. 

 Example: 1,232 foursquare inches / 1,620 foursquare inches = .76 yards per panel

 Whew, lots of math!

But you're non done. Now, y'all demand to calculate the amount of fringe to purchase. Add 2 inches to the width (in inches) of each panel, hence multiply that position out past times three. 

 Example: (54 inches + 2 inches) x 3 = 168 inches (or fourteen feet) per panel

 Finally, you're fix to start sewing! Well, almost. Iron your fabric, hence cutting it to the appropriate size for a panel, making certain all 4 corners are completely square. (Remember, y'all desire each slice to last 2 inches wider than the actual curtain.) Now hem it: Fold the sides over past times 1 inch, pin, in addition to stitch direct across. Then, crease the bottom upward 4 inches, pin, in addition to stitch direct across (align the presser human foot of your sewing machine alongside the raw edge, non the crease of the fabric).

Now you're fix to attach your novel cloth to the existing curtain. Spread out the mantle panel, pretty side up, in addition to pivot the unhemmed border of the addition, pretty side downwardly in addition to upside down, to the bottom of the curtain. (So the forepart of the add-on should last facing the forepart of the curtain.) Like this...

Unfold the fabric, Fe the seam, in addition to get down pinning the get-go row of fringe to the additional panel. Allow 2 inches of fringe overhang per row, in addition to crease an inch closed to each side of the cloth earlier sewing. Make certain to piece of occupation a thread that matches the color of your fringe. 

 Not certain how to infinite your rows? I aligned my transcend row alongside the seam betwixt the mantle panel in addition to the cloth addition; hence for my bottom row, I aligned the base of operations of the fringe alongside the seam of the 4-inch hem. Finally, I centered the middle row betwixt the transcend in addition to bottom rows. 


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