Wednesday, December 18, 2013

DIY Pinch Pleat Curtains (with pompoms, naturally).

I recently made curtains for my daughter's room, and I'm a wee bit obsessed with how they turned out.
DIYCurtains 

Here is a quick before and after to whet ya palate. Bam.

BAM!
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Now let's get down to brass tacks. In order to make pinch pleat curtains you need fabric, and pleating tape. Which isn't exactly tape, it's like a long strip of white fabric with strings running through it. And pink pompoms, if you require pink pompoms in your life. 
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To finish the sides and bottom of the curtains, I did a simple fold-over. I left mine unlined, but if you want to line them you'd just stick a piece of lining in between your curtain fabric (where I'm pinching). I also didn't use a blind hem. I find blind hemming to be really difficult, and if you get your thread to match pretty well, you can't really see the stitch. 
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You'll want to attach your pleating tape to the top of your curtain, which gives you an excuse to not sew the top before you do this. You're welcome. See how I'm saving you time here? 
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Pompoms go on last, and I just sew them right on top to hide the stitching. Again with the matching thread thing. 
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You'll need these metal do-dads, aka "pleater hooks". Space them about every 3 strings, or don't. You can do as many of these as you want, making it look super-pleaty, or not so pleaty. I used 4 pleater hooks per curtain, and I'd say I got a very middle-of-the-line-pleaty look.  
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This is how it will look like apres-pleating.
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Then comes the best part! Hang em. 
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I used a simple rod and O-rings that I painted the same color as the wall.
image (2)
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I am so happy with how they turned out. I really think they brighten up the whole room. 
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To see the other projects I did with this fabric, click here (armoire) and here (hamper revamper)

To enlist my curtain making skillz for your own home, click here!

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