Sewing Curtains
Phew, so much prep to get to this part, the actual sewing. But seriously, this is the easy part if a bit cumbersome. Note: I serged around all sides of the main curtain fabric as mentioned in the prepping post before sewing.
This project is covered in three parts. This is part three.
- Intro and Anatomy of a Lined Curtain
- Take Measurements & Calculate Amount of Fabric to Buy
- Curtain Construction with Grommets Placement
Main Fabric – Prep the Top
With the main fabric right side down, turn up a 1″ fold across the TOP width of the curtain wrong sides together. Then fold down again 4 inches down. If you have a directional pattern, ensure you are working on the top. Press well – use lots of steam to make it crisp.
Fabric – Hem the Bottom
With the main fabric right side down, fold the bottom hem up 4 inches with wrong sides together and press. Fold up again another 4 inches onto itself and press again. Sew this hem with a 1/4″ seam and wide stitch length (3 – 3.5).
Place main fabric on table (or floor) right side facing up.
Lining – Hem the Bottom
With the lining piece right side down, fold the bottom up 1 inch with wrong sides together and press. Fold up again another 1 inch onto itself and press again. Sew across this hem with a wide stitch length (3 – 3.5).
Place lining on top of main fabric right sides together.
Sew Lining and Main Fabric Together
Position the top of the lining well into the 5 inch fold crease at the top of the main fabric. The bottom hem of the lining should float about an inch or so above the main fabric. Now, line up one side of the lining to the main fabric side and pin. Pull the lining up and over to the other side, line up the other side of the lining and fabric. Because the main fabric is wider than the lining, you will pull up your pinned side up to be able to align this side. Pin.
Sew both the side seams using a 1/2″ seam allowance. Before turning right side out, fold the seam over to the lining side so the fabric side is flat and press seam well on both sides. Turn right side out and flatten adjusting so there are even amounts of main fabric showing on either side of the lining. Press well!
Finish Header on Main Fabric
At the header end, unroll the pre-pressed header and match the side fold, re-fold and re-press.
Fold down the pre-pressed header top over the top of the lining. This will be easy to fold from the prep stage earlier.
If there is extra fullness in the lining across the panel (especially in larger panels), push towards center and fold over itself to create a neat centre pleat.
Sew along edge to secure header. Press.
At the bottom ends, the main fabric will extend past liner slightly on both sides and some raw edges are exposed. Turn this under itself at a 45 degree angle and press well. For some fabrics, you may want to put in a few blind stitches by hand to hold.
Presto, your curtain panel is done!
Grommet Spacing
Oh, Grommet Placement
I tried to “eyeball” the placement at first, but I’m not an eyeball type of person. It can be notoriously misleading for me especially if there is a confounding pattern or wide area to cover. Things being a bit off like that would likely drive me mad eventually (as she laughed maniacally). Instead I decided to calculate the placement and spacing more precisely and then recorded my calculations in a google sheet.
Grommets for curtains are widely available nearly everywhere including Amazon. To calculate the spacing for your grommets, you will need to know:
- the finished width of your curtain,
- the number of grommets you plan to install (always an even number),
- the total width of your grommets – outer edge to outer edge,
- the edge allowance – that is how far in from the side you want your first grommet to be placed.
You can estimate the number of grommets to use by using a rule of thumb of 5-6 inches apart for your grommets. The distance from the outer edges is usually about 2 inches, but you can play with that number a bit if you want.
The only thing I would caution here is that I bought grommets that said they were 1 9/16″, but the actual diameter of the grommet was 2.75 inches including both sides and across centre. This also made a huge difference to how to estimate the distance from the top to the centre of the grommets using the supplied template.
If you would like to use my grommet spacing estimator, just plug in the details of your project in this google spreadsheet and get an approximation or starting point for equal spacing between your grommets. The estimates are rounded up so you may have to fiddle a bit with your result. Feel free to use and share.
Once you have your spacing horizontally, you can choose your distance from the top. This will be the same amount you added into your length measurement. Place your grommet template below that spot and marking the center points all along the top of the curtain as calculated.
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