Curtains are pretty much the easiest thing for a beginner to sew. But if you’re ready to step up your game so it doesn’t look like your curtains were sewn by a beginner, read these top tops for sewing custom curtains.

Purchasing Fabric

1) Take a look at curtains in home magazines or online. Note the length of the curtains you like: do they almost touch the floor? Do they puddle on the ground? Now look at the placement of the curtain rod. How far is it above the window frame? How close to the ceiling? Getting a good feel for what you like– and what looks awkward– will help you purchase the right amount of fabric. (We ended up using 6 yards of 54-inch home decor fabric for this set.)

2) Consider the function of your curtains before selecting a fabric. If you want the sun to shine through, choose a synthetic sheer. If you want to block out light, choose a heavier home decor fabric, and purchase additional fabric for a lining.

3) If you opt for a lining, consider whether a flat sheet might do the job. It will probably be less expensive than purchasing the same amount of fabric. Added bonus: you can likely keep the hems of at least two sides, saving you some sewing time.

4) Don’t forget to figure in hems when buying your fabric. For professional, custom-looking curtains, you’ll want generous hems: 1-inch (plus ½ inch for turn-under) along the sides, and 4-inches (plus ½ inch for turn-under) along the top and bottom.

 

Sewing the Curtains

1) Press, rather than pin. This will save you quite a bit of time. Starting on the long sides, fold under the raw edge ½ inch and press. Then fold in once more to make a 1-inch hem. Press. Sew, with a seam about ¾ inch away from the pressed edge.

2) The simplest method for sewing curtains involves folding over the top edge to make a casing for the rod. However, grommets look much more polished and professional. Fold over the raw edge at top ½ inch and press, then fold over again another 4 inches and press. Sew along the bottom edge of the fold. I really liked these easy snap grommets by Dritz– no hammering required! Plan on spacing the grommets between 4-6 inches apart.

3) I figured this one out the hard way: you’ll need to insert an EVEN number of grommets if you want the curtain to hang properly… if you have an odd number, one of the sides will curl outward instead of back. I worked around it with some fancy pleat-work on this set, because the grommet instructions never mentioned it. Save yourself some trouble and use an even number of grommets!

4) I recommend hanging the curtains before sewing the hem. Use a piece of chalk to mark the fabric where you want your curtains to stop. Take the curtains down, then add another 4.5 inches before trimming your fabric. Fold under ½ inch and press, then fold under another 4 and press. Sew along the upper edge of the fold.

All done! What do you think? Do you have any other tips for sewing custom curtains?

My sister recently bought her first house, and was excited to finally pick out paint colors. She’s a bit of a perfectionist (okay, a BIG perfectionist), so we ended up painting her kitchen twice within a couple of weeks. After a few painting mishaps, we finally hit on a method that gave us nearly-perfect results for painting corners and edges.

First, a run-down of the things that didn’t work so well. We taped, of course. I’ve tried several brands of tape, including Scotch Blue, Frog Tape, and an industrial painter’s masking tape. They ALL have seepage in some areas, especially along ceilings.  You get a false sense of security with tape; you think you’re covered, tra-la-la, and then you peel it back to reveal a nightmare like THIS:

But… we taped! What is the point of taping if this happens anyway?!

That’s when we put our hope in gadgets. A foam brush with square edges and an angled handle. Rectangle “trim rollers” with little wheels. These were somewhat better, but they still didn’t cut it for my perfectionist sister. She looked online, and found a tip about using caulk to seal the edge of the painter’s tape. I won’t even go into that one, because it was a DISASTER, and I’m pretty sure it was posted by a DIY sadist. And then, lo, we tried a technique that gave us this result:

Cue singing angels. Look how beautiful! So, I’m going to tell you how to do it, but you should know that it does take more time upfront.  I know you’re impatient to get your new color up, but trust me, you’ll be so happy you took a little extra time now instead of trying to touch up all those drips with an itty bitty paintbrush later. Okay, here we go:

1) Use painter’s tape and tape the edge just like you normally would. (For example, if you’re painting by a ceiling, add the tape to the ceiling. See photo above.)

2) Get out the EXISTING paint color of the surface that is adjacent to the wall you’re painting. (In our example, you would be getting out the white ceiling paint. It’s counter-intuitive, but stick with me.)

3) Paint over the edge of the tape. (In our example, you are painting along the tape with white ceiling paint, where the wall and ceiling meet.) You’re going to get some on the wall you planned to paint in the first place. I know it doesn’t match. It’s okay. It’s good. Really.

4) Let it dry completely. Do not remove the tape!

5) Now paint your wall with the new color, like you wanted to in the first place.

6) Let it dry, then peel off the tape. Ta-da! Gorgeous edges.

Why does it work? Well, no painter’s tape is perfect. At least none that I’ve found. Sad fact: paint will seep through. But when you paint over the tape with your ceiling paint first, the color that leaks is white (which is fine, because it matches the ceiling), and then it seals the tape when it dries, creating a barrier that the wall color won’t seep through. So yeah, you have white paint on your wall for a little while, but then you paint right over it with your new color, and the new wall color won’t transfer to the ceiling.

Okay, let’s look at some pictures of this on a wall, since it’s a little bit tricky to wrap your head around this concept at first (at least it was for me, maybe it was the paint fumes)… Here we have a corner where beige meets blue. Blue is the new color, beige is the existing color.

1) Tape as you normally would (in this case, that means taping on top of the beige).

2) Get out the existing paint color (in this case, beige).

3) Paint along the edge of the tape where the walls intersect, using the existing paint color. You will get it on the other wall, that’s okay. It’s good. Really.

4) Let it dry. Leave the tape on.

5) Paint with your new paint color (in this case, blue). The tape will be sealed by your previous paint job.

6) Take off the tape. Drumroll, please…

A perfectly painted corner! I know these pictures aren’t the greatest; this is actually on top of a cabinet and we were standing on the fridge :o But hopefully you get the idea.

Lovely, no? And so worth the bit of extra time upfront. If you have any tips for professional painting, leave them in the comments below :)

UPDATE: Check out a video tutorial of this process here!

I’m a self-taught sewist, which means I learned a lot of things the hard way. It seems as though there are some sewing facts you’re just expected to know, so they aren’t even mentioned in most sewing books or written on patterns. I thought it would be helpful to go over these basic sewing tips in one video for beginning sewists.

FABRIC

Let’s start by talking about fabric. Most fabric is bought off a bolt that is either 36 inches, 45 inches, or 54-56 inches. 45 inches is most common for fabrics like quilting cotton, so purchase that size if a project doesn’t specify the bolt length. Some projects call for “fat quarters.” These are pieces of fabric cut to about 18 x 22 inches.

When buying fabric, be sure to read the care instructions on the bolt. You may find it helpful to take a picture with your phone.

When buying a natural fabric like cotton, I always wash and dry it before cutting, as it can shrink. Most synthetic fabrics, like fleece, won’t shrink so they don’t need to be pre-washed.

You’ll notice that your fabric has a border with little holes punched in it. This is called the selvage and you don’t want to use this in your project, as the weave and tension is different from the rest of the fabric. Trim off the selvage when cutting your fabric. Your pattern may have instructions about cutting with the grain, or cutting on the bias. The grain of the fabric runs perpendicular to the selvage. The bias is the diagonal grain, at a 45 degree angle to the selvage. Fabric cut on the bias has more give to it and will stretch some when you tug it. This means it’s good for going around curves, and for draping.

When cutting fabric, it’s best to use dedicated fabric scissors. Even if you can’t afford a fancy pair, it’s worth buying an inexpensive pair of 8-inch scissors that you reserve only for fabric. When cutting out paper patterns, use a different pair of regular scissors so you won’t dull your fabric scissors.

If you plan on doing a lot of quilting, you’ll want to invest in a rotary cutter, clear quilter’s ruler, and cutting mat.

STITCHING TIPS

When I first started sewing, I went two years without bothering to learn about all the accessories that came with my machine. I sewed baby bumpers without ever realizing I had a walking foot… I didn’t even know what a walking foot was! Take the time to learn what each sewing machine foot is for. Check your manual to see what that funny-looking stitch is all about. These are things that were invented to simplify the sewing process and make it more enjoyable, so take advantage of them.

Pay attention to what your machine is telling you. If you’re sewing and hear a thumping sound, stop and check your bobbin. If the fabric is hard to feed through, stop and check your tension. If the thread is strained or snapping, stop and rethread the machine, not just the needle.  Yes, it’s tempting to plow on ahead to finish your seam, but if you ignore what your machine is telling you, you’ll probably find a mess on the back of your project and you’ll waste a lot of time unpicking it.

Don’t sew over pins. I used to in the beginning, because no one had ever told me not to. But I found that sewing over pins can lead to broken needles, and once I damaged my bobbin case when the needle hit a pin, and it had to be professionally repaired. Besides, sewing over pins can cause puckering in your finished project. So slide out the pins as you come to them.

PROFESSIONAL PROJECTS

This next tip is really, really important, makes a big difference in how professional your finished project looks. When you sew fabrics right sides together and the next step is to turn them right side out, you need to clip and notch the seam allowance first. If there’s a corner, snip off the excess fabric at a 45 degree angle, being careful not to snip your stitches. If there’s an inward curve or corner, clip the seam allowance with a straight snip. If there’s an outward curve, notch it by cutting a V.

At first I would forget when I was supposed to clip and when I was supposed to notch. I had a friend remind me to “Notch your mountains!” So immediately I thought of a Nacho Mountain. It’s silly, but I haven’t forgotten to notch curved mountains since!

The second most important thing you can do is to press or iron frequently. Some tutorials leave the instruction out entirely, assuming that you already know you’re supposed to press. Pressing will give you crisp seams and will make the various pattern pieces fit together the way they should.

The exception would be synthetic fabrics that can’t be ironed. However, you can get a crisper seam on those projects by rolling the seam between your fingers to define it.

Depending on the project, an additional step you might consider is topstitching. When you turn a project right side out, you have a hole remaining that you pulled the fabric through. If you want it to be invisible, you’ll need to hand-stitch it with a ladder stitch. But most projects call for you to machine-sew it shut close to the edge. It does the trick, but it doesn’t look very professional. However, if you continue to topstitch all the way around the project, it defines the seam and is a nice finishing touch.

 

 

I do my best to point out basic steps like these in all of my tutorials, but not everyone does, so I hope this post has given you a heads-up. If you have any essential tips for beginning sewists, please add them in the comments!