Garden Suite Curtain Reveal and Tutorial

I think I’ve teased you enough by giving you glimpses of my curtains over the past week. I knew this post was going to be quite long (bear with me), so I wanted to give myself enough time to put everything together. Without further ado, here they are….

I am beyond thrilled with how they turned out! Plus, they were super easy to make (in comparison to my last attempt at curtains).

I actually got all of the fabric at Walmart, yep… Walmart! Recently the Walmart in my town decided to close its fabric section. so all of the material went on sale for 50% off. Talk about being at the right place at the right time. Because of the sale, I was able to make each panel for only $10 (not including hardware). Amazing!

I’m going to attempt to share the whole process with you, but I need to first tell you that I’m not a master carpenter or sewer / curtain maker. This means, that as I explain my process, my terminology may be incorrect and my methods may be downright silly. I am aware of this. I just did what I thought would look and work best. That being said, I am beyond happy with the finished product; I wouldn’t change a thing and I highly recommend my method. So here goes.

My windows have wide molding so I just added two 2 x 4s (one in front of the other) to the top ledge of my window. Both boards were screwed into the wall. I was careful not to put any screws in the middle because that’s where I would later be putting the forged nails.

All of the joints were sealed with wood filler, sanded, and painted.

Next, I installed the forged nails. I showed them to you a while back. They are reproductions. (I got them on eBay for a steal, but can’t seem to find them now. Maybe they are sold out?) I measured 1 1/2 inches down the 2×4 and ran a piece of masking tape across the length of the board to ensure that the nails lined up.

Then I made small marks at three-inch intervals. (I chose all of these measurements randomly, not for any specific reason. It seemed to work out perfectly. – Can you tell that I’m not a huge planner? I would just rather do a project and hope for the best. It isn’t the best advice, but it keeps life interesting!)

Next, I used a hammer to put a nail in at each mark. All of the nails went in fairly easily unless I hit a knot in the wood which required a little extra hammering.

Coming along nicely.

Finished! It was actually a very easy process.

I decided to use this method to hang my curtains because I didn’t need / want them to move. I think they call such curtains “dummy panels.” Also, there are radiators in front of two of the windows – another reason I didn’t want the panels to move. The last thing I need is a fire!

All right, now that the hardware was installed, it was time to make the curtains …
First, I measured the curtains to length. I knew I wanted my curtains to rest slightly on the floor. Once I knew how long they needed to be, I added 6 inches for the bottom and an additional 2 inches for the top. (I’ll explain why in a minute.)

I kept the width the same as it came off the bolt. I think it was 54 inches. I then cut off the salvage edge becasue I was told this could cause the curtain panels to pucker.

Then I was ready to sew. For the sides of the panels, I folded the edge over onto the back 2 inches, pinned and sewed a seam.

Once that was sewn, I folded it over again, pinned, and sewed another seam. This step isn’t essential, but it gives a nice, crisp tailored look should someone look at the backs of the curtains. Also, these panels are not lined. I chose not to add a lining since they wouldn’t beused in front of the actual window and wouldn’t be affected by the sun.

This photo illustrates pure laziness. My pin cushion was on the opposite side of the table which I didn’t realize until I started sewing. Instead of getting up and grabbing it, I used my hoodie sleeve instead.

Once both sides of the panel were finished, I did the bottom and top in the same way. For the bottom, I folded up three inches, pinned, sewed. folded up three inches again, pinned, and sewed.
Is this all making sense?

For the top, I only folded over one inch, pinned, and sewed; then folded over one more inch, pinned, and sewed.
Sound good? I did that for all six panels and then I was finished …. well, almost.

I needed a way for the curtains to hang on the nails so i used a piece of chain link (the stuff you use to hang up baskets outside or the chain that is used to hanga light fixture). I separated the individual links and sewed them on to the top of each curtain. I used 6 or 7 links (rings) for each panel.

I went around several times to make sure each ring was secured. The rings were sewn (equallyspaced) directly onto the back of each panel.

If you ask Sebastian, he will tell you that this sewing was pretty boring …

but I loved every minute of it. And don’t tell anyone, but I think my sewing skills are improving! I’m faster and my lines are straighter! Yippy!

Once the curtain panels were complete, it was time to hang them.

So what do you think?

With the rings and nails, the curtains hang so nicely. They have the most beautiful, even-looking folds / pleats (or whatever you want to call them).

The window in the separate bedroom area got the same treatment with the reverse of the fabric.

Dramatic, right!? I just love it! There won’t be as many red accessories in this space so I think the color will balance things out quite nicely.

That’s it, folks! I hope it was worth the wait. and please believe me, if I can make curtains. so can you!
If you have questions or are completely lost, leave a comment below and I’ll try to answer everything in a separate post.

Also be sure to check out those before pictures again. We’ve come a long way baby! I’ll be back next week with more fun stuff!