2011 August 01 | Beneath My Heart

Hey Friends!

I wanted to quickly show you a very easy DIY valance I made for Mandy’s kitchen.

I am going to share with you how to make it through a written tutorial, and then if you would like to watch a video tutorial of the process, I will share that at the end of the post.

First step is to cut your lining the size of the “finished length” of the curtain you are wanting to make.

The “finished length” is the size you want the curtain to be when it is finished (plus 2 to 3 extra inches to the height to allow for the rod pocket.)

So I measured the height and width of the window to see what the size of my lining would be. (Then added 3 inches to the height to allow for my rod pocket.)

Then I laid the lining on top of the wrong side of the curtain fabric I was using and cut the fabric two inches wider than the lining.

Next, I started on the top and folded the material over twice to create a hem. (You basically fold the extra two inches of material in half, and then over again.)

Pin the hem down as you go….

Then sew a straight stitch with your sewing machine to create the hem. Do this same step on all four sides of your curtain.

Next, you need to fold down the top hem about 2 to 3 inches to create a pocket for the curtain rod.

I simply sewed a straight stitch right on top of my other hem stitch to create the pocket. Insert the curtain rod, and you are almost finished!

(I used an extension rod for this project.)

All I had left to do was hang the curtain up at Mandy’s house.

Now please do not hate me, but I was not able to take picture of how I gathered the material up on each side and stitched it. I could do that and take a picture at the same time. :)

But I basically just folded the bottom of the curtain up several times, accordian style, and then used a needle and thread to stitch the gathered material in place. That’s it!