DIY No Sew Curtains And How To Fake A Pinch Pleat

DIY No Sew Curtains And How To Make Pinch Pleat Drapes (The No Sew Way)

I’m not sure what it is about my dining room but I have not been loving it lately. Something just isn’t clicking. I walk in there everyday with hopes that something will just jump out at me. But nothing.

This dining room is larger than my past dining room and it’s not giving me those warm and fuzzy feelings. I wanted a change in here but I had no idea where to start. My eyes kept going to my plain white curtains I had already hung. I knew changing out my curtains would be the easiest and most budget friendly option. And I knew I could move those white curtains into my office.

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I cannot begin to tell you how many curtains I looked at though. I think I looked at every single curtain on this side of the internet and could not find anything I liked AND 96″ long.

I almost gave up. But curtains can come in any form. Tablecloths make great curtains, drop cloths are amazing as curtains, even sheets can make beautiful curtains. I was having a hard time finding tablecloths or sheets that I loved. I knew I wanted something with a little color and drama to them…and better yet I didn’t want to break my piggy bank.

Items Needed To Make Your Own Curtains

I found this fabric at Hobby Lobby (link from Amazon in case you do not have a Hobby Lobby…which would be very sad). After my coupon it came to $6/yd so this is a very budget friendly project.

Is this fabric out of my comfort zone? Yes. Do I think I am crazy for taking down perfectly fine curtains and “making” my own with this crazy fabric? Yes. Have the kids told me 425 times how ugly they thought this fabric is? Yes. Has any of this stopped me? Nope.

I usually use fabric glue for most of my no sew projects but this time I used an old friend and his name is hem tape. I like using tape for curtains since it forces me to iron my hem which gives it a nice clean hem.

I also purchased new curtain rods. These curtain rods are so inexpensive I felt like I HAD to get them and so far so good with them…no complaints. It would have cost me more to make my own curtain rods. I did make the original rods this past summer with dowels from Lowes that I spray painted black.

For my new and improved dining room 2.0 I wanted one long rod as opposed to two short ones. Making your own curtains is not difficult especially if you go the no sew option. It is a little time consuming but all you need is Netflix and an iron.

These are not designer curtains or black out curtains. This is literally 3 yards of fabric hung from a curtain rod. And I have absolutely no problem with that.

How To Make Your Own No Sew Curtain

If your fabric needs washed definitely do that step first just in case it shrinks. I skipped this step. I first started with 3 yards of fabric for each panel and ironed on my hem on each long side of the curtain panel. I did about a one inch hem on both sides.

I then did a one inch hem to what would be my top hem

And then folded it again and made a four inch hem. That one inch hem in the previous step was to make this four inch hem look a little cleaner.

I did things a little backwards here. I did not iron on my bottom hem right away. Since I had my rods hung already I figured I’d get the curtains hung and then mark where I needed to hem for the bottom. It just seemed easier to me than measuring from the rod down to the floor and then measuring the fabric. I really hate measuring. I’m a measure once and cut three times type of girl.

How To Make/DIY Pinch Pleat Curtains (with pictures)

(See my newest post on how I added pinch pleats to my IKEA curtains)

My trick to hang these bad boys to give them more of a polished look is pretty easy. Years ago I read this tip from Young House Love and I have been copying it ever since. Hanging your curtains this way gives them a pinched pleat look and makes them look a tad fancier. Instead of clipping your clips to the top of your curtains you want to gather a small section and clip your clip about 1 inch from the top of your curtain like this.

I did this every three inches

The ends of each of my drapes though I clipped like this so it would hang nicer

Have I lost you yet?

You might need to hang your curtains, step back and adjust your faux pleats standing on your ladder as you see fit. I did that multiple times and as out of shape as I am I was pathetically sore the next day from going up and down the ladder so many times. So you might get a workout too with this project. I really do love hanging my curtains this way. It does just gives them a fancier feel.

I still needed to hem my bottom hem so while my curtains were hung I pinned where I wanted them to hit the floor. I erred on the side of caution and pinned my curtains longer than I probably wanted them to be. It drives me somewhat batty when curtains are too short. Look closely you can see pins in the fabric by the floor.

If you are good, you can save some time and hem your fabric as it is hung. I took my curtains back down, trimmed off some extra fabric and hemmed a one inch hem to my bottom hem.

And then rehung my curtains with my fingers crossed that I did not mess up the bottom hem. I had to make 4 curtain panels and each panel cost less than $20. It might have taken me some extra time but I saved ~~myself~~ my husband lots of moolah.

I really think the new drapes add so much depth and texture to this room. It’s slowly giving me those warm and fuzzy feelings. You can see more about the mini makeover I gave my dining room here.

If you want to know any of the resources I used you can find them here:

Wall color: Behr Silver Drop
Curtain Rods
Curtain clips
Curtain fabric
Chandelier
Rug
Dining Table (similiar)
See how I painted my World Market console table here.

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