HOW TO MAKE LINED CURTAINS {DIY}

I'm finally back after a little bit of recovery time following my oral surgery. In a previous post I share our guest room makeover. I promised to share the  tutorial on how I made the curtains for this room.

Let's start out by talking about the fabric I used for these curtains.  

 Kravet Latika - Limestone

I've always loved Sarah Richardson's design choices and she uses Kravet fabric often in her room design's.

I've looked online for place to purchase this fabric and found it at Decorators Best, but the price tag was not in my budget.  The normal price for this fabric is $83 per yard on sale for $51.50 a yard.  I needed 3 yards for these curtains, so even on sale it would be $154.50 for the fabric.

You can imagine how excited I was to find this fabric on the remnant table at Hancock Fabric.  There was exactly 3 yards, just what I needed for only $5 a yard!  That is $139.50 cheaper than buying it online.

Below are the color dots showing what colors it matches.   It may not look like it in the photo of the room but this fabric matches the wall color perfect.  The photo colors look a little off because of the lighting in the basement.

Now it was time to make the curtains.

The first thing I did was to measure the length I wanted my curtain to be and added 10 inches to the length. Using the living room floor, I laid the fabric out flat and cut the fabric to the length I wanted it.  Because I did not have a lot of fabric to work with, I  then cut the fabric in half length wise (top to bottom).

One very important step in sewing, is ironing.

 I took the fabric to my ironing board and ironed each piece. 

I measured 1/2 inch from the edge on each long side of the fabric and ironed it.  I then applied pins to hold it in place.  

Moving on to the bottom "hem" of the curtain.  I folded the fabric over 3 1/2 inches and iron it.

 I then unfolded the 3 1/2 inches down and turn over 1/2 inch and ironed it.  Once this is done you can turn the fabric back up again.

 Now that the main part of your curtain is prepped.  It is time to move on to the lining of the curtain.  I wanted something that wouldn't cost me so much.  I found a twin sheet at Wal Mart for $4 as the perfect solution for the lining.

 To make the sheets ready to use as lining, 

I began by removing the hem edge on the long side of the sheets.  I kept the top of the sheet as it was. This would become the hem for the lining.

I then cut the sheet in half lengthwise.

Laying the fabric on top of the curtain fabric to measure, cut the lining fabric two inches smaller and one inch shorter.

Once the sheet/lining was cut.  I returned to the iron and pressed the lining flat.

After ironing, return the lining to your fabric and lay the pieces right sides together,

 lining up the right side and top of the fabric. (Make sure you leave an inch from the bottom of the fabric. This will keep the lining up just a bit from the main curtain.)  Pinning the right side together, followed by sewing them together with a 1/2 seam.

 You will now have 1 1/2 inches from the left side of the fabric difference.  Take the lining fabric and move it over to line up with the edge of the curtain fabric pinning it as you go.  Once pinned, sew this side of the fabric using a half inch seam allowance.

Now you are ready to turn the curtain right side out.  Take the curtain to your iron once again and press the seams.  You will have a half inch on each side of the lining of the curtain front to press.

It's time to move onto the top of the curtain.  Taking the top edge of the curtain, I folded it over 2 inches.  Folding the first 1/2 inch over and press, then fold another 1 1/2 inches and pressing to form a hem.  Leaving this area open, it was time to add the tabs to the back for the curtain rod placement.  To make the tabs I used a wide bias tape and cut them into 3 inch strips. You could use ribbon or fabric for the tabs if you like.  Once the tabs were cut I tucked them under the top hem of the fabric, placing them 3 inches apart from each other.  I used pins to keep them in place.  To attach the tabs I simply ran a running stitch close to the edge of the turned hem area.  

After the top edge was sewed, I then did a running stitch to attach the bottom of the tab to the curtain.

You have now created your tab-top for the curtain rod to slide into.

Moving onto finishing the hem of the curtain, which was turned over and pressed earlier.

I first made an angled corner by cutting off the excess fabric.  I then hand stitched it and the rest of the hem.

The total cost to make these lined curtains was $19.

Here's a look at the finished lined curtain.  

I hope this was helpful and if you have any questions just leave me a note in the comments area below.  I'd love to hear from you, if you make some curtains for yourself.

Have a great day!