Applique Curtains For My Little Sailor

I recently decided to (probably foolishly) make as much of my sons bedroom soft furnishings as I can. As a fully fledged craft and upcycling addict I love the feeling of sitting back and thinking to myself 'I made that!'

Apart from my upcycling and craft addiction i have to admit to also being a bit of an Ebay dependant shopper, so I set about the task of finding fabric's that would fit with the nautical theme that is currently becoming apparent in his room.

Now to say that his bedroom is a box room would be generous at best, it is more shoe box than box room! I bought a midsleeper bed (storage underneath, I'm not just a pretty face, I have moments of intelligent revelation) and a wardrobe in navy blue that closely resembles the Tardis.

I hit Ebay with a vengeance and found lots of really cheap offcuts, remnants and the occasional fat quarter of fabric, I started clicking like a woman posessed and as a result I now have FAR too much nautical themed fabric!

(Standby for nautical themed everything for a while........I wonder if my bathroom could stand up to a nautical blind.......)

I still have some yet to be delivered!

Its a good job scatter cushions are easy to make!

 

Im going off topic slightly.......where was I?.....oh yes...curtains!

 

Simple steps to making basic (unlined) curtains.

 

1. Measure window, length and width. Make sure your finished curtains will close and still have a slight gather. (I guessed at this and bought fabric that was the same width as the window so that a pair of curtains would add up to double the width)
2. Choose your fabric wisely. Ask yourself what you need from your curtains. Do you want them to protect your privacy? Block out sunlight? Look pretty but serve no real function? Once you have decided this you can pick your fabric (Its not all about the pattern its about the thickness and practicality of the fabric too) As my sons room has vertical blinds the curtains only needed to serve as room dressing so I selected a light polycotton blend in blue and white stripes.
3. Cut the fabric to size allowing an additional 12cm's in length for hemming (you will understand why shortly) When measuring and cutting fabric remember you cant re-cut it if you cut too short so always always always measure twice and cut once! (having a dad in the building trade taught me this, Its amazing how things can cover a multitude of purposes!)
4. Get your iron out.....No I havent completely lost the plot, It is important that yu get the hems straight and this is probably the most fool proof way of doing it. Tape measure at the ready!!! (mine is usually around my neck because my 5 month old son likes to play with it, in fact I have at least 3 of them randomly dotted about the house) fold the fabric over 1cm and iron flat (be careful to make sure it is exactly straight at the edges but dont worry if it isnt exactly straight along the length of the fold because the fabric may not have been cut exactly straight) Do this at both ends of both curtains. Do not sew yet!!!!
5. Now you need to do the length of the curtains, do as above and iron a 1cm fold down the length of the curtains and repeat to hide rough edges. Sew these folds in using a basic running stitch on your sewing machine.
   
6. Now go back to your iron and fold over the top and bottom hems 5cms and iron into place. Sew along the hem approx 5mm from the edge. Do this top and bottom of both curtains and you are almost there!
7. Attach header tape to the top and stitch into place using the same basic running stitch.
   
8. Yes I know the header tape in this photo is on back to front i had to unpick it and do it all again!!!!!!

   
9. So tape on the right way this time! We can continue!!
10. Once this is done you can hang the curtains after a quick go over with the iron, or if like me you have to go that extra mile you can add applique detail or many other things like bias binding on the edge instead of hemming....let your inner design diva go wild! 

Applique detail.

 

I picked up some nautical fabric remnants on ebay for a matter of pennies just so that i could use the designs that were printed on it. I got inspired when I saw it. So for fear of being patronising I will keep the instructions for applique simple. 

1. Cut out applique
2. Iron it flat 
3. Attach it to backing fabric with Bondaweb (you can either buy the type that comes in sheets that you can cut out or if you are like me and always have some handy just pop a few lengths under the applique making sure its not sticking out and iron on in the position you want it to be on the finished product.

   
4. Sew around the applique using a zig zag stitch keeping the edge of the applique in the middle of the stitch. If you are a novice on the sewing machine (if you arent you probably find this blog somewhat boring) then dont be afraid to go slowly, it is better to go one stitch at a time than to have to keep unpicking untidy sewing because your brain has said stop but your foot has been a few seconds behind listening to it! Beware puckering too, it doesnt look pretty hence my constant ironing to keep the fabric as flat as possible!

   

Repeat this step until you are satisfied with the result, tidy up any loose threads by pulling them to the back and snipping (im pretty sure there are youtube clips available on how to do this because lets face it there are youtube clips for everything!) Iron your curtains and go hang them up!!!!

I hope this tutorial is helpful and not too rambling as I have a habit of getting off topic now and then! Ive tried to keep it basic because I find some tutorials can be a bit patronising and come across as idiots guides. My tutorials are aimed at people with a modicum of common sense!