Window Treatments 1
At Mary Ann’s Cupboards, our mission is to provide you with tips and tricks to help you save time and money in all the areas of your home. We don’t always share ideas on decorating or do-it-yourself projects, but I thought it would be a good idea to help you see how managing your home is a lot easier when you think it’s cute! Making a house a home can be a challenge when you are on a budget, especially when it comes to windows. Curtains and drapes are expensive, but they really pull a room together. So, I thought I would do a series of blog posts about how to save time and money on simple, elegant and casual drapes for your whole house.
Window treatments add comfort and style to a room and really pull everything in it together. Unfortunately they can also be one of the more expensive items in the room’s decor. However, they can be very inexpensive with a little bit of creativity, the ability to sew a straight line or use an iron and fusible seam tape like stitch witchery. You can also use inexpensive fabric or recycled shower curtains, flat bed sheets or other large pieces of fabric.
Here is an easy formal drapery idea. Check our website for the next few weeks for other styles of easy to make and inexpensive draperies.Equipment Needed: (1) an ironing board, iron, measuring tape and a roll of stitch witchery (2) 2 drapery hooks (or tie backs) and a box of (3) thumbtacks, and (4) a hammer if needed.
Jacquard is a great fabric for formal draperies. This fabric was purchased on clearance at Home Fabrics & Rugs for $3 a yard. The drapery hooks (tie backs) were purchased at Wal-Mart for $8 a set. The drape is held in place with thumbtacks. Step#1 = Install the hooks about 6” on the outside and 1” above the top of the window. Use molly screw anchors to mount them if there are no studs in that location.
Step#2 = Measure from the floor to the top of the hook on the left side, across the window to the right side hook and down to the floor. Add one extra yard of fabric for the knots around the hooks and the tie in the middle of the drape. Purchase your fabric or use fabric you have on hand.
Step#3 = Cut an 8” piece of fabric off the end of the yardage. Lay the fabric on the ironing board lengthwise, right side down, and fold 2” towards the middle. Press. Now fold about 2” on the opposite side of the tie with the raw edge close to, but not extending past, the first fold—press. Be sure that the raw edge of the last fold is far enough away from the first fold that it does not show on the outside.Step #4 = Find the middle of the drapery fabric and thumbtack it to the center of the window above the mounting brackets of the hooks. Stretch the fabric to the outside of the hooks and thumbtack it in place, letting the fabric drape over the hooks and to the floor on both sides. Put additional thumbtacks along the top if necessary to create a straight line.
Step #5 = Remove the thumbtack at the center of the window and slip the tie behind it so that the tie drapes toward the floor about 6”. Replace the thumbtack by putting it through the tie and the drape. In order to keep the tie straight
you might have to put two thumbtacks in the tie. Step #6 = Pull the tie around the drape and anchor it with two more thumbtacks. The tie will be about 8 to 10” long from the top of the drape to bottom of the tie. You can make it longer or
shorter if desired. Do not cut off the excess until you have wrapped the hooks.
Step #7 = Pleat the drape and lay the pleats over the hook. Pull the center of each swag down until it is the length and fullness you desire.
Step#8 = Wrap the end of the drape around the hook starting from the outside, wrapping toward the middle of the window and over the hook and down. Fan out the fabric around the hook and place a thumbtack underneath and at
the top of the drape so the knot does not tighten around the hookStep #9 = At this point you can puddle the drapes at the floor or hem them—allow 5” for a hem. Measure 5” additional inches from where the drape touches the floor. Fold it at the 5” mark so that the fabric is even across the bottom—cut. Leaving the drapes hung—pin the hem into the drape making sure it is even across the bottom. Place your ironing board under the drape, turn it to the wrong side of the fabric, fold the raw edge under 1” and press. Take stitch witchery and place at the folded edge and press in place. Repeat on the other side of the drape.
Tags: drapes window treatments money matters home decor affordable decor
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